How to Recognize Yellow Fever

Yellow fever is caused by a virus that is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito. This disease only occurs south of the Sahara Desert in Africa as well as the tropical regions of South America. Although the yellow fever is treatable, there is no cure for it at this time. The good news is that it is entirely preventable through vaccination. This article will therefore focus on identifying symptoms and the prevention of this potentially deadly disease.

Method 1 - Know the Symptoms

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→ Note that you can only contract yellow fever south of the equator. Click on a map of either continent below to see of you are or may be at risk.

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→ Following being bitten by an infected mosquito, initial symptoms of a person infected present themselves three to six days later. They will be typically flu-like and include the following:

→ Fever and chills, severe headache, back pain, general muscle aches, nausea, fatigue, and weakness. This phase may be followed by a short period of symptom remission.

→ This is not enough information to make a decent diagnosis of yellow fever because the symptoms are too vague.

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→ Pay very close attention to the following after a remission, as you may need to move very quickly to get the infected person to a hospital for supportive care for symptoms such as follows:

→ High fever, headache, back pain, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and fatigue.

→ Hepatic coagulopathy, which means bleeding of the liver, produces hemorrhagic (which means, literally, to bleed profusely) symptoms, including hematemesis (black vomit), epistaxis (nose bleed), gum bleeding, and petechial and purpuric hemorrhages (bruising).

→ Deepening jaundice (yellowing of the skin) frequently occurs in severe cases.

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→ Final stages of the disease may include the following symptoms:

→ Hypotension (low blood pressure), shock, metabolic acidosis (accumulation of acids in bodily fluids), acute tubular necrosis (damage or death to cells of the urinary tract), myocardial dysfunction (dysfunction of the heart muscle), and cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat).

Method 2 - Yellow Fever Prevention

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→ There is no cure, per se, for yellow fever once a person has contracted it. Viruses do not respond to antibiotics, which are only effective against bacterial infections. If the person concerned has not been vaccinated or presents secondary symptoms as described above, treat them as though you were treating a person with a life-and-death syndrome of influenza. Hydration and providing the person with basic nutrients are best in the case of any major viral illness, with hydration being the top priority.

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→ The best cure is prevention, and this article is largely intended to provide useful ways of preventing this disease rather than identifying the symptoms once a person has become infected.

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→ There is an extremely effective vaccination Against Yellow Fever. Although most occurrences of this viral disease are generally spread throughout the continents of South America and sub-Saharan Africa, measures below should be taken to ensure that any person traveling to these areas be immunized via vaccination from this preventable, potentially lethal disease prior to traveling.

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→ Many countries require proof of vaccination in order to enter the country. The required documentation, provided at the time of vaccination, is called the International Certificate for Vaccination and Prophylaxis against Yellow Fever. See the table below to find out if you are traveling to a country that requires vaccination prior to entry.

→ Access to the countries listed in the table below will likely be denied to travelers without this certificate.