Yellow fever ALERT: Fears deadly disease could spread after OUTBREAK at tourist hotspot of Sao Paulo, Brazil

A tourist hotspot, favoured by Brits for its winter sun, could be about to be hit by a yellow fever “epidemic”.

So far, at least 14 people have come down with yellow fever symptoms in the Brazilian capital of Sao Paulo.

The disease, spread through mosquitoes, has also wiped out 12 of the city’s monkeys, which is believed to be the cause of the outbreak.

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ALERT: People in Brazil are going down with yellow fever

Dengue Fever Vaccine Suspension Criticized by Drugmaker Sanofi, Dec 2017

Mosquito-borne diseases cause millions of deaths each year, says the World Health Organization. So instead of vaccinating people, it may be safer to vaccinate insects. If feasible more than 730,000 children may not have been vaccinated against Dengue prior to the company releasing data the vaccine could proved to be harmful in some cases.

Now the Philippines wants its money back and Sanofi (SNYNF) is saying the government is doing a disservice to the country.

Thomas Triomphe, Sanofi Pasteur's head of Asia-Pacific, said at a senate hearing in the capital Manila that stopping the program "would in effect leave 90 percent of the population at the mercy of an epidemic which has been found to be preventable," Triomphe added, referring to health department figures on the number of Filipinos who contract dengue.

The Dengue vaccine was recently administered to 730,000 children and 32,000 hospital patients in the Philippines.  The government  suspended its vaccination program after a new study conducted by the drug maker revealed negative results: The vaccine could worsen the disease in people not previously infected, but should be innocuous in people who have previously contracted the virus. 

A spokesperson for Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte announced plans to launch a Department of Justice investigation into the "fast-track approval of Dengvaxia by the previous administration," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, Jr. told the press recently. The Department of Health is also monitoring the recipients of the vaccine while the DOJ investigates "the purchase of this vaccine," Roque, Jr. said.

Dengue causes flu-like symptoms and may develop into a lethal complication, called severe dengue. Deaths of three children have been linked to severe dengue, which causes skin spots, black stool and nose bleeds among other things.

Mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) have long infected humans with world-renowned Zika, yellow fever, dengue and chikungunya viruses, all of which are listed on the WHO's neglected tropical diseases page. This was the country's largest-scale vaccination program against the Mosquito-borne disease.

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Mosquito that spreads deadly dengue fever and zika virus discovered on Canary Islands as thousands of Brits head for winter sun, Dec 2017

THE mosquito that spreads potentially deadly dengue and yellow fever viruses has been discovered in the Canary Islands at the start of its high tourist season.

Tourists have been warned to be on high alert after Aedes type mosquitoes, which are behind the spread of the painful diseases, were found on the holiday island of Fuerteventura.

ALAMY

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Mosquitoes can spread the potentially deadly dengue and yellow fever (stock image)

A small pocket of the mosquitoes, which in 2005 were blamed for 30 cases of dengue fever on Cristiano Ronaldo’s native island of Madeira, were detected on a private estate called Las Granadas near to Fuenteventura Hospital in the island capital Puerto del Rosario.

Confirming the discovery, the Canary Islands regional health authority said they were already organising an initial intervention, saying: "A large number of traps (are) being set and surveys taking place in houses near to the area where the mosquito has been detected to determine the spread and the area in which the work to eradicate them needs to be undertaken.

"Work to locate and inspect possible breeding grounds is also being carried out.

"All this will give us the vital information we need to proceed to the quick and effective eradication of the mosquito."

GETTY - CONTRIBUTOR

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A computer artwork version of yellow fever virus, which can be spread by mosquitoes

While downplaying the presence of the mosquito leading to an outbreak of dengue, Zikaor yellow fever, they asked members of the public to flag when they spotted a "suspicious" mosquito.

The Aedes aegypti has white markings on its legs and a marking in the form of a lyre on the upper surface of its thorax.

The mosquito originated in Africa but is now found in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world.

Only the female bites for blood which she needs to mature her eggs. Dengue causes high fever, severe headaches and joint pain.

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Agency to conduct vaccination campaign in 3 states of Nigeria

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) says it will conduct yellow fever vaccination campaign in Kogi, Kwara and Zamfara states, to stem the spread of the disease.

Dr Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director of NPHCDA disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Abuja.

He said the vaccination campaign became imperative due to cases of yellow fever confirmed few weeks ago in Kogi and Kwara state.

He said that Agency in collaboration with Nigeria Centre for Disease Control mounted the yellow fever response initiative.

“The vaccination campaign is to ensure that children that are vulnerable to the disease are aware and get vaccinated in those states,” he said.

In a related development, Shuaib said the agency would no longer accept false data of vaccination reaching all Nigerian children.

He said that the 2016/2017 Multi Indicator Cluster Survey and National Immunisation Coverage survey was an eye opener to the agency.

He explained further that most of the key players in the health sector had suspected that the Agency was not reaching Nigerian children with the vaccines, as the administrative coverage data suggested.

“What the coverage survey told us was that the data that we relied on in the past few years was not accurate data.

“We have health workers from the facilities level falsifying data; given the impression that we are doing well and in the actual fact, we have not been doing very well in the past.

“We accept that we are doing a good job but with low coverage; we have a platform and foundation to build a more sustainable and efficient immunisation system.

“This government has made it very clear that health is a priority; NPHCDA has also declared the state of public health concern around the number of children that were vaccinated.”

Shuaib said that no fewer than a million children in Nigeria were yet to be reached with the vaccine they ought to have received before now.

He said the agency has setup the national routine immunisation coordination centre as an engine room to ensure better coordination for routine immunisation activities nationwide.

Shuaib further assured that the agency has adopted a zero tolerance to data falsification.

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