Essay On Yellow Fever

Yellow Fever

Yellow fever is a tropical viral disease affecting the liver and kidneys, causing fever and jaundice and often fatal. Yellow fever is not a common disease in the United States. On the contrary it is very common in other countries. I will be stating how it 's transmitted and where it originated. What are symptoms you may have and what specialist can diagnose you. Some treatments you can get and what measures to take to prevent this disease. Lastly I will talk about what countries are at the highest risk of contracting this disease. Yellow fever is said to have originated in Africa. With 90% of cases and deaths are primarily from Africa. The virus is primarily found in tropical areas in Africa and South America (“Yellow Fever,

It is related to West Nile, St. Louis encephalitis, and Japanese encephalitis viruses. Yellow fever virus is transmitted to humans primarily through the bite of infected Aedes or Haemagogus species mosquitoes. Mosquitoes acquire the virus by feeding on infected primates (human or non-human) and then can transmit the virus to other primates (human or non-human). Humans infected with yellow fever virus are infectious to mosquitoes shortly before the onset of fever and for 3–5 days after onset. 2014). (“Yellow Fever, 2011”),

So in simple words, it is transmitted by mosquitoes who bit an infected host. You may not have any symptoms; but if infected and bitten, the mosquito will now transfer the disease to another living thing. The symptoms may vary on the infected. In most cases though the infected goes through two stages. The first stage is the acute phase followed by the toxic phase. During the acute stage some symptoms that appear

If they live in an area known to have Yellow Fever they should consider getting vaccinated. Or even if they are travelling to an area with Yellow Fever they should get vaccinated before. The vaccine is not expensive and is an extra precaution. In Africa there was a huge campaign to get three countries vaccinated. These people were between the ages of 9 months and 45 years old (WHO. Yellow Fever in Africa and South America, 2014). The use of mosquito repellant and appropriate clothes is the next best thing to use. Also, if you don’t have to be outside, staying inside is probably the most recommended thing to do. In the case that someone is infected, there is no known treatment. Supportive care is mainly the only thing a hospital can do. These support treatments would include providing fluids and oxygen, maintaining adequate blood pressure, replacing blood loss, providing dialysis for kidney failure, and treating any other infections that develop (Staff, M. 2014). Once someone has had this disease they will be immune to it