Yellow Fever

• 117 passengers of Indian Origin arriving from Sudan are currently quarantined because they were not vaccinated against Yellow Fever.

About Yellow fever:

• Yellow fever is often associated with jaundice, hence the name yellow.
• Yellow fever occurs in 47 endemic countries in Africa and in Central and South America.
  • Around 90% of cases reported every year occur in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• The yellow fever virus is transmitted by infected mosquitoes, most commonly from the Aedes species – the same mosquito that spreads the Zika, Chikungunya and Dengue virus.
  • Haemogogus mosquitoes also spread it and are mostly found in the jungle.
  • The disease cannot spread by contact from one person to another.
• Symptoms: Fever, headache, jaundice, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting and fatigue.
  • A small proportion of patients who contract the virus develop severe symptoms and approximately half of those die within 7 to 10 days.
• Prevention and Treatment:
  • A single dose of yellow fever vaccine, known as 17D, provides life-long immunity against the disease.
  • There is no specific treatment for yellow fever but good supportive treatment of symptoms, such as dehydration, fever and infection, improves survival rates.