Yellow fever is a disease
caused by a virus of flaviviridae group
and it is spread through mosquitoes in
areas where the disease has been reported. Generally, regions in the South
America as well as Africa is said to have reported cases of
yellow fever whereas in the US, the last recorded epidemic was in 1905. When seeing
the travelers, the disease can be comparably rare among the other diseases, but
many countries has their own guidelines governing the use of Yellow fever
vaccinations and thus would require travelers to obtain these vaccines if they plan
to travel to these countries. Generally, the people who are living in South America and Africa are selected to be vaccinated for Yellow
Fever.
Yellow fever is a disease
that can be self-limiting and often mild whereas in its extreme instances, it
can develop in to a life threatening disease
with hemorrhagic episodes. The disease can be
diagnosed based on the clinical findings, recent history of traveling to risk
areas as well as through laboratory diagnosis. But, given the potential problems
that it might give as well as the enormity of its spread when the vaccine was
not available, authorities does not take the vital to vaccinate very lightly.
Therefore, there are designated and approved vaccine centers that give the
yellow fever vaccine and the local health authorities or else the CDC will be
able to guide someone to the closest possible vaccine center
The vaccine that is being used
for yellow fever is a live vaccine, meaning the constituents of the vaccine is
the live organism but is able to launch an attack only to a level which makes the
body produce the necessary antibodies. Thus, the protection given by this
vaccine will last for about 10 years and following 10 years another booster
dose needs to be given.The
criteria to give the vaccine takes into consideration the age of the person as
well as the presence of other conditions that may disrupt and generate side effects from the vaccine itself. Therefore, the vaccine is not
usually given to infants below 6 months of age as well as in the following
conditions.
- Patients who are having immune-compromised states such as symptomatic HIV, bone marrow cancers
- Use of drugs which alters the immune mechanism
- Acute infections
- Pregnancy
as well as allergies to eggs
or any of the constituents of the vaccine.
Once the vaccine is given, a
small percentage of people can develop mild symptoms such as pain, swelling,
headache and a mild fever. But, life threatening allergic reactions is very
rare.
In case you need more information,
visiting the IHC Website
Reference:wikipedia
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