Yellow fever is fatal a viral infection spread by mosquitoes. The Yellow fever virus is transmitted with the bite of female mosquitoes, prominently by Aedes aegypti. Africa is considered to be the origin of this disease, which further spread to South America as a consequence of human trafficking during the times of slave trade earlier in the 16th century. These days, however they are found in tropical and subtropical areas of both Sub-Saharan Africa as well as South America. Elders generally possess a high risk of infection, although people of any age group may get affected by Yellow fever virus.
Incubation period of the Yellow fever virus is around 4 days, after which it causes a sudden onset of fever. This time-period of 4 days is termed as infection. Most people usually recover at this stage, however in extreme cases, problems occur with the organs such as heart, liver, kidney failure, bleeding disorders, seizures, delirium and coma. The liver failure may lead to jaundice which renders the skin yellowish. Hence the name 'yellow fever' is derived. About ten percent of the patients die of this disease if they reach the final stage of 'intoxication'.
Symptoms of yellow fever include:
Headache, Muscle pains, Seizures, Vomiting, Fever, Delirium, Coma, Irregular heartbeats, Yellow skin and eyes (Jaundice).
Yellow fever can't be diagnosed easily since its symptoms matches very closely with other diseases such as malaria, typhoid, dengue fever, viral hepatitis etc. A blood test and specialized equipment are essential for the diagnosis of yellow fever. There is no treatment in particular for the Yellow fever. Treatment of yellow fever is done as per the symptoms, for example:
- Dialysis is recommended for kidney failure
- Fluids through a vein (intravenous fluids)
- Blood products for severe bleeding
According to the statistical data, around 200,000 cases of yellow fever are registered each year out of which nearly 30,000 patients die. Almost all of these cases come from the African continent which further increases the risk of infection to its population of more than 460 million people in 33 countries.
Yellow Fever Certificates and Stamps:
New requirements outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO) came in effect from 15 December2007.As per the new requirements all the clinics in most of the countries should use the new certificate i.e., "International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis". They are required to use the new Government Approved stamp. This stamp contains a registration number which is exclusively assigned to the clinics administering the vaccination. The new certificates are now issued by all the Travel Medical Alliance clinics. People are required to renew their Yellow Fever Vaccination certificates, even if they have already taken Yellow Fever Vaccination before 15 December 2007 since old style certificates are rendered invalid after this date.
Yellow Fever Vaccination requirement
Yellow fever vaccination is mainly required for the countries that fall within the endemic zones. Variants of Yellow fever vaccine have been in use from 1930 and more than 300 million people have been Yellow fever vaccinated till date as per the estimates.
Stamaril is the recent vaccine for the yellow fever disease. Stamaril is an attenuated, live-virus preparation of the 17D strain of the yellow fever virus and are manufactured in leucosis-free chick embryos. In case the patient is allergic to eggs, this yellow fever vaccine is not advisable since it is grown inside a chicken embryo. However, this vaccine is entirely safe for people who can eat eggs in small quantities in cooking. Stamaril, the yellow fever vaccine is given as an injection, subcutaneously and a single dose is sufficient for 100 percent immunity. This immunity persists for around 10 years after which yellow fever re-vaccination is advised.
Travelers are advised to get yellow fever vaccinated at least 10 days prior to their travel to the endemic zones. Other live-virus vaccines, if required should be given on the same day. If there's a delay then the traveler have to wait for next month for the other live-vaccines. This is advised since the live-vaccines will suppress the immune system and hence reduce the effectiveness of the Yellow Fever vaccine. For the same reason, yellow fever vaccination should not be taken within one month of any other live-vaccine dose.
Who Should Not Use The Yellow Fever Vaccine?
- Yellow fever vaccines are not recommended for babies below 1 year of age or the pregnant women with immunity issues such as chemotherapy or AIDS.
- Sick or ill persons should wait till complete recovery before getting Yellow Fever Vaccination
- Persons having earlier severe reactions to the Yellow Fever Vaccine
- Persons suffering from HIV, or AIDS
- Persons with weak immune system or liver, and kidney disease
- Persons consuming steroid drugs or cortisone
Do I Need The Yellow Fever (YF) Vaccination?
Yes, Yellow Fever Vaccination is required to prevent oneself from the illness and/or to be eligible to travel to certain countries that fall under endemic zones. The places in world which is currently experience yellow fever outage or have experienced such epidemic in past are categorized as "endemic zones". While traveling to these zones, Yellow fever vaccination is mandatory, with the only exception of the case, when the traveler is having certain medical conditions, where the risk from vaccination is more than the risk from disease.
Yellow fever Endemic Zones
African countries: ANGOLA, BARKINAL FAED, BENIN, BURINDI, CAMEROON, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC, CHAD, COTE D'LVOIRE, CONGO, DEMOCRITIC REPUBIC OF CONGO, EQUATORIAL GUINEA, ETHOPIA, GABON, GAMBIA, GHANA, GUINEA, GUINEA BISSAU, KENYA, LIBERIA, MALI, MAURITANIA, NIGAR, NIGERIA, RAWANDA, SAO TOME PRICIPE, SENEGAL, SOMALIA, SUDAN, TOGO, UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA, UGANDA .
South American countries
BOLIVIA, BRAZIL, COLMBIA, ECUADOR, FRENCH GUIANA, GAYANA, PANAMA, PERU, SURINAM, VENEZUELA.
For Yellow Fever Vaccination, Hyderabad - India Please Contact : +91-9014243939, +91-9347480077.
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