Background: Future health professionals are expected to recommend vaccines, communicate with patients about vaccine safety, and support clinical trial literacy and recruitment during public health emergencies. However, their own willingness to participate in vaccine trials, and the barriers that shape that willingness, remain incompletely characterized across Europe. Objective: This study aimed to assess willingness to participate in future vaccine trials among European students in health-related disciplines and to describe their perceived barriers, motivations, vaccine attitudes, and preferred sources of health information. Methods: We conducted an open, multilingual, cross-sectional web survey within the VACCELERATE network from June to November 2023. National coordinators distributed the survey through institutional mailing lists, student associations, and program channels in participating European countries. Eligible participants were students aged 18 years or older enrolled in medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, psychology, biomedical sciences, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, or other health-related programs. The questionnaire assessed demographic characteristics, primary sources of health information, vaccine attitudes, willingness to participate in future vaccine trials, barriers among unwilling or unsure respondents, and motivations for participation. Analyses were descriptive, and denominators varied by item because nonmandatory questions could be skipped. Results: Of 1381 eligible respondents, 1192 (86.3%) answered the primary willingness question: 32.9% (n=392) were willing to participate in a future vaccine trial, 38.8% (n=463) were unsure, and 28.3% (n=337) were unwilling. Among the 769 respondents who were unwilling or unsure and selected barriers, the most frequent concerns were potential side effects (n=574, 74.6%) and not wanting to be a “test subject” (n=276, 35.9%). Among 1289 respondents included in the motivation analysis, commonly selected motivators included knowing the risks and side effects involved (n=575, 44.6%), becoming part of the solution to an important health problem (n=584, 45.3%), and knowing that personal safety would be protected (n=500, 38.8%). Conclusions: In this multicountry European sample of health professional students, only one-third reported willingness to participate in future vaccine trials, while the largest group was unsure. The findings suggest that trial-readiness initiatives for future health professionals should prioritize transparent communication about safety monitoring, risks and side effects, participant protections, and the practical conduct of vaccine trials. Because recruitment used an open convenience approach, the results should be interpreted as exploratory and hypothesis generating rather than representative of all European health professional students.

Background/Objectives: CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsy is a broadly performed and minimally invasive procedure for obtaining tissue samples from pulmonary lesions, offering a high diagnostic yield, and remains a cornerstone of accurate lung cancer diagnosis. The primary objective of this study was to assess the diagnostic yield of CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsies and to investigate the factors influencing this yield, with procedure-related complications being a secondary objective. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 356 CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsies performed between January 2021 and December 2023. The patient demographics, lesion characteristics (size, location) and histological findings were analyzed. The diagnostic yield was evaluated based on histological findings and, if necessary, follow-up information. Results: Of the 356 biopsies, 326 (91.6%) were found to be diagnostic, and 30 (8.4%) were non-diagnostic. The diagnostic yield was significantly influenced by lesion size and the number of biopsy cores, with lesions ≤2 cm associated with a higher diagnostic failure rate (p = 0.034). A significant interaction was also observed between lesion size and core number (p < 0.001). The overall complication rate was 11.5%, with pneumothorax being the most frequent event (7.0%). CIRSE grade 2 and grade 3 complications occurred in 4.8% and 3.1% of cases, respectively. Solid lesion morphology was identified as an independent predictor of complications (OR = 1.67, p = 0.022). Conclusions: In summary, CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsy demonstrates a high diagnostic yield with an acceptable safety profile and remains an important diagnostic tool in the evaluation of pulmonary lesions.