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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., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Competing Interests: Provenance: externally peer reviewed

Competing Interests: Provenance: externally peer reviewed

Competing Interests: Provenance: externally peer reviewed

Competing Interests: Provenance: externally peer reviewed

Meningococcal disease is a worldwide life-threatening infection associated in many cases with debilitating long-term sequelae, both within the military and civilian populations. Military recruits are at a higher risk of acquiring this infection due to numerous factors, such as young recruits in the age group 18-25 years, high carriage rates of meningococci, communal and crowed living quarters and global deployment or training in regions with different meningococcal serogroup epidemiology. Although these increased risk factors among young recruits remain, the increased incidence of disease is now historic. Numerous outbreaks have been reported among military personnel, however although the incidence of the disease continues to decrease, there are still sporadic cases. The non-specific symptoms, sudden onset and rapid progression of the infection results in a limited time frame to both diagnose and successfully treat the patient. Many developments have been made in relation to the microbiological diagnosis of the disease, particularly in the era of molecular diagnostics, which have the potential to diagnose the infection more quickly. Developments in vaccinology, and in particular with relation to biotechnology and reverse vaccinology, have led to the availability of new meningococcal vaccines, further enabling disease prevention. This paper outlines the history of meningococcal disease in relation to the military and highlights the new developments in both diagnostics and vaccination, which have the potential to diagnose, treat and control meningococcal disease in a more efficient manner., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.)

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.