About The Disease Yellow Fever

Yellow fever is a serious disease which occurs in Africa and South America. It is transmitted by the female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and can be fatal.

Vaccination may be required before visiting parts of Africa and South America considered to be endemic zones. This is to stop the disease spreading into other countries and to protect the travellers themselves.

The Yellow Fever vaccine is not available through many family doctors and travellers usually must visit specially approved centres to have the Yellow Fever vaccination.

Yellow Fever is caused by a virus and spread to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito. The virus causes sudden onset of fever, four days after the bite. Most cases are mild, last less than a week, and the person makes a full recovery. Sometimes it is more serious. The liver may be damaged leading to jaundice - a yellowish tinge to the skin. Hence the name 'yellow' fever. It may cause joint pain and vomiting.

Eventually the clotting system fails and bleeding occurs from the nose, gums, stomach and skin. Up to ten percent of sufferers will die.

In indigenous populations in endemic areas the fatality is about 5%. For travellers to rural parts of yellow-fever risk areas, the risk of contracting infection is high and the case fatality rate can approach 50%, even if the country has not officially reported the disease and does not require evidence of immunisation on entry. Refer to our Yellow Fever Links section for more information about the distribution, mortality and immunology of Yellow Fever.

The incubation period is generally 3 to 6 days but may be longer. Death usually occurs 7 to 10 days after the onset of the illness.

The initial or "acute" phase is normally characterized by high fever, general muscle pain, backache, shivers, headache, loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting. Most patients improve and their symptoms disappear after three to four days. About 15 percent of those infected enter a "toxic" phase. In this phase, high fever reappears and can lead to shock, bleeding (from mouth, nose, eyes, and/or stomach), and kidney and liver failure.

Liver failure causes jaundice (yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes), which gives yellow fever its name. About half of the patients in the toxic phase die within 10 to 14 days. Persons recovering from yellow fever have lifelong immunity against reinfection.

Yellow fever is difficult to recognize, especially during the early stages, and can be easily confused with diseases including malaria, typhoid, rickettsial diseases, hemorrhagic viral fevers, dengue fever, and viral hepatitis. Diagnosis of yellow fever requires a blood test and trained staff using specialized equipment and materials.

There is no treatment for yellow fever. Persons with yellow fever should rest and drink plenty of fluids. Dehydration and fever can be treated with oral rehydration and paracetamol

Once upon a time, yellow fever was one of the great plagues of the world and there are still periodic outbreaks. The Yellow Fever disease arose in West Africa. It lives in the monkeys of the high jungle canopy without apparent adverse effects. Europeans are believed to have spread the disease to the Americas via mosquito larvae in the ships water barrels. The last major outbreak in the US was in 1905 in New Orleans. Although the disease has been eradicated from North America it still occurs in South America.

Current estimates indicate 200,000 yellow fever cases with 30,000 deaths each year, and almost all in sub-Saharan Africa where over 460 million people in 33 countries are at risk of infection.

YELLOW FEVER NEWS - New Certificates and Stamps From 15 Dec 2007

Yellow Fever is a disease that is subject to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) International Health Regulations (IHR)

From 15 December 2007 new requirements outlined by the WHO come into force and clinics in Australia are required to use the new "International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis" and a new Australian Government Approved stamp which includes a registration number unique to the clinic that administers the vaccination.

All certificates issued from 15 December 2007 onwards must be in the new format

Question: I had the Yellow fever vaccine a few years ago and I am travelling again . The Yellow Fever certificates last for 10 years - is my old certificate still valid? Do I have to be revaccinated and/or get a new certificate?

Answer: No. You do not have to do anything. Old style certificates are valid for ten years from the date of vaccination if they are dated up to and including 14 December 2007. After 15 December you will need to make sure you receive the new certificate.

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A vaccination certificate may be required to enter an infected country, and/or when leaving an infected country and entering the next (non-infected) country.

In many cases officials only check the International Vaccination Certificate if there is an outbreak in progress.