High willingness to receive a vaccine for gonorrhoea prevention among gay, bisexual, queer, and other sexuality diverse men, and non-binary people in Australia

Abstract

Gonorrhoea incidence and antimicrobial resistance are increasing among gay, bisexual, queer, and other sexuality diverse men, and non-binary (GBQ+) people. Observational studies suggested that 4CMenB vaccine (Bexsero®) may provide partial protection against gonorrhoea, but recent randomised trials found no clear evidence of protection. We analysed willingness to receive 4CMenB for gonorrhoea prevention in a 2025 Australian cross-sectional survey of GBQ+ individuals aged ≥16 years. Multivariable logistic regression examined associated factors. Among 2138 participants (median age 39 years), 89.2% were willing to be vaccinated. Willingness was lower among participants aged ≥30 (aOR = 0.46;95%CI = 0.29-0.74), born outside Australia (aOR = 0.71;95%CI = 0.51-0.99), higher among those reporting recent HIV PrEP use (aOR = 2.80;95%CI = 1.30-5.99), familiarity with antimicrobial resistance (aOR = 2.26;95%CI = 1.61-3.18), and willingness to take an antibiotic pill after sex to prevent STIs (aOR = 5.42;95%CI = 3.85-7.61). Willingness was high and aligned more with prevention engagement and biomedical prevention attitudes than with sexual risk behaviours, suggesting future gonorrhoea vaccines may be acceptable in this population.

Abstract of "High willingness to receive a vaccine for gonorrhoea prevention among gay, bisexual, queer, and other sexuality diverse men, and non-binary people in Australia" by Hammoud M, Holt M, Broady TR et al., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2026.129233, used under its Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY); markup removed, otherwise unmodified.