YELLOW

FEVER

INTRODUCTION

Yellow fever, known historically as Yellow

Jack, is an acute disease.
The virus is a 40 to 50 nm which cause this
disease.
The World Health Organization estimates that
yellow fever causes 200,000 illnesses and
30,000 deaths every year in unvaccinated
populations, today nearly 90% of the infections
occur in Africa.
It was considered one of the most dangerous
disease in 19th century.

Transmission of the disease

Yellow fever virus is mainly transmitted

through the bite of the yellow fever
mosquito Aedes, but other mosquitoes
such as the tiger mosquito can also
serve as a vector for the virus.
The origin of the disease is most likely
Africa, from where it was introduced to
South America through the slave
trade in the 16th century.

PREVENTATION

Vaccination is recommended for those travelling to

affected areas, because non-native people tend to
suffer more severe illness when infected.
In rare cases less than one in 300,000 the
vaccination can cause yellow fever vaccineassociated YEL-AVD disease, which is fatal in
60% of cases. It is probably due to the genetic
change of the immune system.
Some countries in Asia and Africa are theoretically
in danger of yellow fever ,so for the people of the
country is compulsory to take that vaccination.

Diagnosis

If yellow fever is suspected, the virus cannot be

confirmed until six to ten days after the illness. A
direct approach is the isolation of the virus and
its growth in cell culture using blood plasma,
this can take one to four weeks.
Liver biopsy can verify inflammation
and necrosis of hepatocytes and detect
viral antigens. Because of the bleeding
tendency of yellow fever patients, a biopsy is
only advisable post mortem to confirm the
cause of death.

Signs and symptoms

Yellow fever begins after a period of three

to six days.
Most cases only cause a mild infection
with fever, headache, chills, back pain, loss
of appetite, nausea, and vomiting. In these
cases the infection lasts only three to four
days.
Surviving the infection provides
lifelong immunity, and normally there is no
permanent organ damage.

Signs and symptoms

In fifteen percent of cases, sufferers are

facing recurring fever, jaundice due
to liver damage, abdominal pain,
Bleeding in the mouth and the eyes, and
the sufferers will also do vomit
containing blood.