Immunization of persons with inadequate immunization records: Canadian Immunization Guide

For health professionals

Updated: July 2015

People may present to health care providers with inadequate or no immunization records. Vaccine providers should always attempt to obtain the person's immunization records from his or her previous health care provider.

Written or electronic documentation of immunization is preferred for both children and adults; however, information obtained by telephone from the person's health care provider with the exact dates of immunization may be accepted. For children, parental recall of prior immunization, in the absence of documentation from the vaccine provider, correlates poorly with vaccines received and should not be accepted as evidence of immunization. One possible exception is seasonal influenza vaccine, due to the increased reliability of recall as to whether or not influenza vaccine was received less than one year previously.

Routine serologic testing to determine the immunity of children and adults without immunization records is generally not practical. The following approach is recommended: Individuals who report incomplete immunization or lacking adequate documentation of immunization should be considered unimmunized and started on an immunization schedule appropriate for their age and risk factors. Refer to vaccine-specific chapters in Part 4 for additional information. Refer to the Recommended Immunization Schedules in Part 1 for information about immunization schedules recommended by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization for previously unimmunized children and adults. Refer to the vaccination schedule for infants and children and adult vaccination schedule for information about publicly funded immunization schedules.

The following considerations are of note:

Refer to Contraindications, Precautions and Concerns in Part 2 for additional information about adverse events following a previous immunization. Refer to Immunization of Persons New to Canada in Part 3 for additional information about immunization of people who have recently arrived in Canada.

Selected References

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2016-09-01