Yellow Fever:
A total of 117 passengers of Indian Origin that have arrived from Sudan are currently quarantined because they were not vaccinated against Yellow Fever.
- Yellow fever is often associated with jaundice, hence the name yellow.
- Yellow fever occurs in 47 endemic countries in Africa 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 be spread by contact from one person to another.
- Once contracted, the yellow fever virus incubates in the body for 3 to 6 days. Symptoms usually present themselves in 2 phases.
- The first, “acute”, phase usually causes fever, muscle pain or vomiting. Most patients improve and their symptoms disappear after 3 to 4 days.
- However, a small percentage of people enter a second, more toxic phase within 24 hours of the initial remission.
- They will experience high fever, JAUNDICE, and abdominal pain with vomiting and deteriorating kidney function.
- Yellow fever can be prevented by a vaccine that is protective for life. As 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.
