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A new MenACWY conjugate meningococcal vaccination programme was introduced in Northern Ireland (NI) in August 2015, for 13-18 year olds, as well as for first-time university entrants up to 25 years. This reflected the response made by Public Health England, due to the recent rapid increase of meningococcal group W (MenW) disease and on advice of the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The aims of this study were to evaluate (i) the uptake of the MenACWY vaccine among first-time university students, (ii) vaccine and meningitis awareness, (iii) optimal communication modalities via a multidisciplinary team (MDT) model and (iv) current international vaccination policies relating to non-UK students. A survey was completed by 1210 students, 868 first-time freshers and 342 non-freshers, from healthcare-related, non-healthcare-related and engineering/computing faculties. The survey included an anonymous questionnaire and consented students were aged 17-50 years with a 2:3 ratio of male:female. Vaccine uptake amongst 18-year-old students was 90.7% and 87.3% in female and male cohorts, respectively, falling to 72.1% and 67.7% (19-year cohort) and 32.7% and 39.6% (20- to 25-year cohort) in males and females, respectively. Students reported that posters, clinics and talks were the preferred methods of communication and not social media. There was general lack of awareness of the signs/symptoms of meningitis and approximately 30% of students falsely believed that administration of the MenACWY vaccine excluded the risk of contracting meningitis. Overall, there was a successful vaccination campaign; however, there was a lack of meningitis awareness. Due to differing international meningococcal vaccination schedules, international students enrolling at UK universities need to be informed about current UK policies. For the successful introduction of any vaccination programme amongst university students, it is fundamental that a MDT is established to inform and deliver such a programme in an efficient and timely manner.

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This article describes the purification and scale-up of ISIS 2302, a 20-mer phosphorothioate oligonucleotide by anion-exchange (AX) chromatography. The key operating parameters were optimized at gram scale and further scaled up to hundred gram. SOURCE 30Q, a high efficiency polymeric chromatographic media was used for both the small and large-scale work. High length-based purity and yield were maintained at scale-up. This purification is one of the largest demonstrations of AX purification of phosphorothioate oligonucleotide.

What is known and objective There has been a paucity of vaccine and vaccine‐related definitions within the scientific and medical peer‐reviewed literature, particularly with the arrival of COVID‐19. Therefore, it was the aim of this commentary to collate definitions to 44 vaccine‐ and vaccinology‐related key terms, from four international and respected sources of information (where available), including (i) the World Health Organisation (WHO), (ii) the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), (iii) The Department of Health, Government of Australia and (iv) the European Union. In addition, it was a further aim to develop a lay person's definition to each of these 44 key terms, to act as a published and citeable reference point for pharmacists and other healthcare professionals, when communicating with patients and other public‐facing stakeholders. Comment Definitions are important in health care in order to (i) provide concise insight on a specific topic, (ii) provide a common understanding and (iii) set reference points to allow the adoption of a standard uniform approach. What is new and conclusion The collation of definitions of key vaccine terms was compiled from four respected sources of information. A glossary of 44 key terms was produced to help pharmacists and other healthcare professionals explain such terms professionally, as well as to patient stakeholders in lay person's vocabulary. These lay definitions had superior readability metrics than definitions from any of the four professional sources, indicating their suitability for engagement with patient‐facing stakeholders. Understanding the barriers to vaccine uptake is crucial for health professionals and policymakers to achieve improved uptake rates. This commentary has aimed at adding value to healthcare professionals and patients, by providing an up‐to‐date glossary of several professional definitions, from respected sources, as well as an accompanying lay definition to support the healthcare professional‐patient communicative interface. Vaccines have become an important preventative tool, particularly in the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic, to help mitigate disease severity and to help control the pandemic locally, nationally and internationally. Accessible and robust definitions help inform the dialogue to achieve this goal and the avoidance of obscurum per obscurius .

What is known and objective Patient information leaflets (PILs) or Patient Leaflets (PLs) formally accompany dispensed medicines and are intended to provide the patient with information on how to use the medicine safely. To date, there have been no studies that have examined the readability of meningococcal vaccine patient‐facing information, including information contained within the vaccine PIL. Given the role of pharmacists in presenting PILs to patients, it was, therefore, the aim of this study to quantitatively analyse the readability of Patient Leaflets, which accompany licensed meningococcal vaccines in the UK and US and to compare PILs to vaccine pharmaceutical manufacturers’ summary of product characteristics (SPC), as well as other patient‐facing vaccine‐related information. Methods Five sources of meningococcal vaccine information were examined for the licensed meningococcal vaccines in the UK (Bexsero, Menveo, Menitorix, Trumenba, Nimenrix & NeisVac‐C) and in the United States (Bexsero, Menveo, Trumenba, Menactra, Menomune‐A/C/Y/W‐135, Menquadfi), including as follows: (i) SPC (Electronic Medicines Compendium, UK), (ii) Package Insert (FDA; USA), (iii) Patient Leaflet (Electronic Medicines Compendium, UK), (iv) Vaccine pharmaceutical websites and (v) government web resources. Readability was examined employing 10 readability metrics, including the Flesch Reading Ease and the Flesch‐Kincaid Grade level. Results and discussion The information source with the greatest readability scores was the UK Patient Leaflet, which had a mean Flesch Reading Ease score of 58.1 and a mean Flesch‐Kincaid Grade score of 7.3, followed by the US Department of Health & Human Services patient‐facing website for vaccines (55.9 & 8, respectively), followed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Vaccine Information Statement (47.3 & 9.4, respectively). Pharmaceutical patient‐facing websites for meningococcal vaccines had mean scores of 44.6 and 9.9, respectively. When compared with UK Patient Leaflets, pharmaceutical websites were statistically different with poorer readability with both Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch‐Kincaid Grade Level indices (p = 0.02 & p = 0.04, respectively). What is new and conclusion Pharmaceutical meningococcal vaccine PILs were easily read and had statistically significant good readability scores in comparison with vaccine SPCs and US Package Inserts, pharmaceutical product websites and other government patient‐facing meningococcal vaccine information. Preparation of patient‐facing materials of a complex topic, such as describing meningococcal vaccines, is difficult to accomplish. Although there is a plurality of sources of information through websites and social media, PILs are one of the few sources that are provided directly to patients. This underpins the potential importance of PILs and the importance of their readability. Adoption of readability calculators and scrutiny of materials for their readability will help authors develop materials with improved understanding for ...