Vaccination record

[esther0123]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm kind of in a pickle getting my vaccination record. I moved around a lot and I personally have no record of my vaccination (although I'm fairly certain that I had all of the necessary ones) and I don't have a family doctor.

 

Where would I be able to obtain this information?

 

In the worst case scenario, would I just need to get all the vaccinations all over again? And how much would that usually cost?

[NLengr]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm kind of in a pickle getting my vaccination record. I moved around a lot and I personally have no record of my vaccination (although I'm fairly certain that I had all of the necessary ones) and I don't have a family doctor.

 

Where would I be able to obtain this information?

 

In the worst case scenario, would I just need to get all the vaccinations all over again? And how much would that usually cost?

 

You could just get someone to order titres for most of them.

 

Are yo going into med starting in sept? If so contact student affairs at your school and tell them you need a family doc. They usually have someone who takes the med students.

[ellorie]

If you know where you got vaccinated, you might be able to call those doctors and ask if they still have records for you.

 

Otherwise, you'd likely have to get at least some of the vaccinations again. They should be covered by provincial insurance. You'd probably have to get the TDaP and Polio ones again, but you could get titres for Hep B, varicella, and MMR.

[BizMarkie]

No, you shouldnt have to start all over again. You can get bloodwork done (titers) which will show antibodies (if you have them) to certain diseases. These diseases are measles, mumps, rubella, varicella (chicken pox), hepatits A and Hepatitis B. For tetanus, you should get a shot anyway unless you are totally sure you've had one in the last 10 years. Another thing about tetanus is that the injection includes diptheria, which is also something you want immunity against. Even better, there is a tetanus shot that includes tetanus, diptheria and pertussis (whooping cough). I'd recommend this 3 in one for some one going to med school. If you have had all of your childhood immunizations, your bloodwork should come back showing antibodies (ie. immunity) to the aforementioned diseases. The only ones you may not have gotten and may not have antibodies to are Hep A and Hep B. If this is the case, you would need to get the Twinrix series, which vaccinates against Hep A and Hep B in three injections scheduled at 0, 1, and 6 months. This should give you life long immunity to both of these types of hepatitis.

 

But to get the bloodwork, you will need a doctor or an NP. If you need the Twinrix you will also need an Rx for that. For the 3 in one, you migt be able to find a Public Health Nurse to give it to you. Maybe free, depending on where you live.

[ellorie]

You probably would need more than just one tetanus shot though - you'd need to repeat the entire three shot primary series, most likely, not just the adult booster.

 

You should be able to get this done by a walk in clinic or at the public health, or at student health services if you currently attend university.

[BizMarkie]

If the OP is over the age of 19, she won't need the primary series, just the Tdap and a booster every 10 years.

[ellorie]

Yes, but every incoming medical student needs to have proof of a primary series. So if you are a medical student with no proof of vaccination in childhood - you need to be re-vaccinated as an adult with the full primary series.

[Laika]

It's a pain to get re-vaccinated if you don't need to be, especially if it means receiving a primary series again.

 

Contact your city/department of public health from wherever you went to elementary school. For example, here's Toronto's information. I believe they keep records of childhood immunizations for 25-30 years, and can provide you with documentation.

[A-Stark]

You don't need a full "primary series", just three doses of Td or DTaP, with the first two 4 weeks apart and the the third 6-12 months later. It's also debatable whether a lack of proof necessitates more than a simple DTaP, but then schools have stupid policies about this stuff.

 

I didn't have any of my records from years ago, so my dad made up some approximate dates. I suppose that only worked because he's a physician.

[Laika]

It's also debatable whether a lack of proof necessitates more than a simple DTaP, but then schools have stupid policies about this stuff.

 

U of T never lets anything get in the way of a stupid policy. They (and the rest of Ontario?) require an adult primary polio series if you don't have a documented history.

[fugacity]

It's a pain to get re-vaccinated if you don't need to be, especially if it means receiving a primary series again.

 

It would be good if a skilled nurse or physician does it. I had 9 shots in Grade 8, all delivered at once, and I barely felt a thing. Although I have to agree there is no way to mitigate the pain from the logistics point of view.

[BizMarkie]

Ok that's a hardcore immunization policy, I'm not really sure if it's evidenced based, but whatever. This is what you would need to do:

 

Titers: measles, mumps, rubella, hep a & b.

If you don't have antibodies to the hep, twinrix 3 step series will be needed.

For the tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, and polio, there is a vaccine called adacel polio which provides immunization against all 4 of these diseases. So, if you needed twinrix and adacel polio you would need 3 appointments with a doctor or nurse at 0, 3, and 6 months where you would receive one shot of each. You will also need to do a 2 step Mantoux test to test for exposure to tb. If that's positive you would need a chest X-ray to prove you don't have tb. This should cover you!