How to get childhood vaccination records in Pa., N.J. and Del.

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So far, there’s only been a handful of measles cases in the Philadelphia region, but peak summer travel season is fast approaching.

Public health experts urge people planning to visit areas with larger infectious disease outbreaks to check their vaccination status, which may require locating their childhood immunization records.

“Working with your health care provider will definitely help with keeping your records available in centralized areas so that you can make sure that you’re up to date as best as possible,” said New Jersey Department of Health State Epidemiologist Dr. Tina Tan.

Vaccines for diseases like hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella and polio are given during infancy and early childhood.

Today, those shots are recorded in electronic health records systems, but for many older adults, their vaccine histories were kept in paper files that may have been damaged, destroyed or lost to time.

“If you cannot find your vaccine records, you might need to get some of your vaccines again,” Tan said. “That’s not necessarily ideal, but it is definitely safe to repeat vaccines.”

Going straight to the source

There are many things people can try before they consider getting revaccinated. They can first check with their childhood pediatricians’ offices or current primary health care providers.

These offices may still have the paper records, or they’ve converted them into digital files.

“If people have been pregnant, you probably have been tested for certain protection against certain vaccine-preventable diseases, so your obstetrician’s office might also have that information,” Tan said.

However, this might not be an option for everyone. In states like Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, health providers are only required to keep medical records of former patients for a minimum of seven years after the last appointment. Then, they can be destroyed.

Other practitioners and offices may no longer be in business.

In those cases, Tan said people can check if their childhood vaccine records are on file with schools and colleges that often request documentation for incoming students.

“The military, if you were enlisted, might have records of the immunization as well,” she said.