Health and social workers
talk to relatives of Watila Santos, who died from yellow fever in Casimiro de
Abreu, Brazil, in March. CreditLeo Correa/Associated Press
Three years ago, the West
African Ebola epidemic set off a
worldwide panic and the biggest global-health security crisis in years.
Then Zika struck and the
reality of those transmittable disease threats was brought even closer to home
in the United States, with more than 5,000 cases reported and America still on
high alert. Yet today, an even greater potential threat to the world is sweeping
across Brazil.
The disease, yellow fever, is
a deadly virus that spreads as rapidly as Zika, with symptoms that can be as
horrific as Ebola. It is transmitted by certain species of mosquito, including
the same Aedes aegypti that carries Zika. Up to 15 percent of those bitten
become severely ill, with symptoms that include black vomit and bleeding from
the nose, mouth and eyes. For up to half of those who develop severe symptoms,
yellow fever ends in a painful death.
Until about a century ago,
the disease regularly caused urban epidemics in the United States, including
one in Philadelphia that killed 10 percent of the population in 1793, forcing
President George Washington and others in his administration to flee what was
then the nation’s capital.
Now, with Brazil facing an
unusually large outbreak of yellow fever — there are 715 confirmed cases, more
than 820 suspected cases and 240 confirmed deaths — another global health
crisis looms. So far, the outbreaks have largely been confined to sparsely
populated jungle areas. There is serious concern, however, that if the virus
starts spreading in a major city, health authorities will be ill equipped to
contain it. Rio de Janeiro, for one, is aggressively vaccinating its citizens
in hopes of inoculating 12 million by the end of the year.
Yellow fever already kills
upward of 30,000 people a year worldwide, though in 2013 as many as 60,000
might have died from the disease. With the threat of yellow fever returning to
regions where it was once expunged, that number could rise significantly. What
is particularly worrying is the possibility of yellow fever taking hold in
previously unaffected parts of the world like Asia. The combination of Aedes
aegypti being prevalent there and about 1.8 billion unvaccinated people living
in densely populated parts of that continent makes for a potential disaster.
While there is no cure for yellow fever, a licensed vaccine
has long been available that is safe, affordable and highly effective,
providing lifetime protection with just one dose.’’
Africa Center for Clin Gov
Research & Patient Safety
@ HRI West Africa Group - HRI WA
Consultants in Clinical Governance
Implementation
Publisher: Health and Medical
Journals
8 Amaku Street Housing Estate,
Calabar
Cross River State, Nigeria
Phone No. +234 (0) 8063600642
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