Yellow fever - Prevention through Vaccination

While mosquito control is the ultimate prevention strategy to prevent mosquito borne diseases like Yellow Fever, Malaria and Dengue, this is certainly not practicable for most African and South American countries at the present point of time.
According to WHO, Vaccination is the single most important measure for preventing yellow fever. In high risk areas where vaccination coverage is low, prompt recognition and control of outbreaks through immunization is critical to prevent epidemics. To prevent outbreaks throughout affected regions, vaccination coverage must reach at least 60% to 80% of a population at risk. Few countries in Africa currently have this level of coverage.

Preventive vaccination can be offered through routine infant immunization and one-time mass campaigns to increase vaccination coverage in countries at risk, as well as for travelers to yellow fever endemic area. WHO strongly recommends routine yellow fever vaccination for children in areas at risk for the disease.

The yellow fever vaccine is safe and affordable, providing effective immunity against yellow fever within one week for 95% of those vaccinated. A single dose provides protection for 30–35 years or more, and probably for life. Serious side effects are extremely rare. Serious adverse events have been reported rarely following immunization in a few endemic areas and among vaccinated travelers (e.g. in Brazil, Australia, the United States, Peru and Togo). Scientists are investigating the causes.

The risk of death from yellow fever is far greater than the risks related to the vaccine. People who should not be vaccinated include:

* children aged less than 9 months for routine immunization (or less than 6 months during an epidemic);
* pregnant women – except during a yellow fever outbreak when the risk of infection is high;
* people with severe allergies to egg protein; and
* people with severe immunodeficiency due to symptomatic HIV/AIDS or other causes, or in the presence of a thymus disorder.

Travelers, particularly those arriving to Asia from Africa or Latin America must have a certificate of yellow fever vaccination. If there are medical grounds for not getting vaccinated, International Health Regulations state that this must be certified by the appropriate authorities.

Reference
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs100/en/index.html

All information provided by Dr Gaurav Gupta, MD, Charak Clinics. Stamaril, Yellow Fever Vaccine is available at Charak Clinics, Chandigarh, North India for all travelers to Endemic Countries in Africa / Central & South America with WHO certificate of vaccination valid for 10 years. For details write to us at drgaurav-at-charakclinics.com (replace -at- by @) or call at 91-172-5092585, 91-9872303775 during Office Hours.