NUVA editorial rules

These rules apply to all contributors. Whenever possible, they are checked automatically by the publication tools.

Obligations

Language

Brand names are expressed without an associated language.

Labels for abstract vaccines and valences, descriptions, notations must be expressed first in English. These English labels will serve as the basis for the translation processes.

Form of the description

To be discussed, may be obsoleted by generating the description.

The descriptions for vaccines are made of the list of their valences in a predefined order, with the characterization of each valence in parenthesis after the valence. After the list of valences come the needed precisions on the technology of the whole vaccine.

Example: “Diphtheria toxoid (low dose), tetanus toxoid, multicomponent acellular pertussis (5 components, low dose) and inactivated polio (trivalent) vaccine, adsorbed”

Persistency of concepts

A created concept for a vaccine or a valence can never be reassigned for a different meaning, since it would create false interpretations of precedent uses. It can only be deprecated, possibly indicating a replacement concept.

The only exception would be a concept that has been wrongfully created, but not released yet.

Unicity of abstract vaccines

For a given combination of valences, they can be only one single abstract vaccine.

Minimization of valences

It may be useful for the readability of the hierarchy of valences to create intermediate valences, such as HPV-mono, even if they are not used in the description of any vaccine. Still any valence should either be used in a vaccine or the parent (generalization) of other valences.

Unicity for an external code

For a given external code, there is one and only one associated vaccine code, corresponding to the exact precision level of the external code.

If several vaccines can be represented by a same external code (such as an ATC code), then it exists an abstract code that is exactly aligned with this external code. The valences for this abstract code are generalizations of the valences of all representable vaccines.

Yet, it is possible and usual to have several codes from a same external code system for a given vaccine. This is for example the case of presentation codes.

Recommendations

Case for the vaccine labels

Except when the generally admitted use is different:

• The vaccine labels that are brand names are in uppercase.
• The other labels have their first letter in uppercase, then lowercase.

  Composite valences

  The hierarchy of valences represents a notion of specialization, not of composition.

When using a composite valence addressing several serotypes of a same pathogen agent (such as PCV-13-valent), it is recommended to add a unitary valence for each of the serotypes. In this example, a pneumococcus vaccine with PCV-13 valence will be represented with the 13 unitary valences, plus the composite one.