Lost or illegible health booklet: what should you do?

Last checked: November 2026

Ask for a replacement booklet

If the booklet is lost, ask the departmental maternal and child health service (PMI) where your child lives for a replacement. Give it to the doctor who usually follows your child so they can fill in the information available in their records: Service Public — lost health booklet.

A new booklet is not an automatic copy of all the old pages. If the booklet is illegible, keep it and ask the doctor how to recover the information still available.

Gather the vaccination history

Contact the professionals or centres that vaccinated your child to ask for available records and, if needed, a vaccination certificate. Gather old certificates, reports and legible copies. Booklet entries can serve as a certificate under the conditions described by Service Public.

Do not reconstruct a date or dose from memory as if it were certain. Tell the doctor about gaps: only they can assess what to do about an incomplete history. There is no guarantee that all old information can be recovered.

Keep useful photos without sharing everything

As a practical precaution, legible photos may help you find what was written if the paper is lost or damaged. Photograph the whole page, check legibility and store files somewhere with restricted access. Copies do not replace the booklet or a professional certificate. The booklet contains confidential data: Service Public — access and confidentiality.

Organise copies with Carnet vivant

Carnet vivant is a personal tool where parents choose the uploaded pages and check every entry against the photo before confirming it. It can help you find notes and their source page; it does not recreate missing information or replace the official booklet.

Sources

• Service Public — the child's health booklet, replacement and confidentiality
• Vaccination Info Service — vaccination record keeping

This guide is for information only. For any question about your child's health, ask your doctor.