Serologic testing to verify the immune status of internationally adopted children against vaccine preventable diseases ☆

Definitive immunization guidelines for internationally adopted children are lacking. We examined whether these children had serologic evidence of protection against vaccine-preventable diseases. For children with ≥3 vaccine doses, overall protection was high for diphtheria (85%), tetanus (95%), polio (93%), hepatitis B (77%), and Hib (67%). For children ≥12 months of age with ≥1 dose of measles, mumps, or rubella vaccines, 95%, 72%, and 94% were immune, respectively. Children without immunization documentation had lower immunity. Serologic testing was useful in verifying the immunization status in internationally adopted children with and without documentation of immunizations.