Yellow Fever
Yellow fever is a mosquito-borne viral disease that can cause bleeding from the digestive tract and inflammation of the liver that results in jaundice.
Yellow fever is caused by an arbovirus (arthropod-[insect]-borne virus). Mosquitoes are the particular arthropod responsible for transmitting yellow fever. Yellow fever is one of the most recognized and historically important viral infections. In the past, major epidemics of yellow fever have been responsible for tens of thousands of deaths. Once common in tropical and temperate zones around the world, the disease now occurs only in Central Africa and Central and South America.
The first symptoms of yellow fever are headache, muscle aches, and mild fever, all of which subside after a few days. Some people then recover, but others develop high fevers, nausea and vomiting, and severe generalized pain. The skin turns yellow because of infection of the liver. Often there is bleeding from the nose, mouth, and digestive tract. Some people develop very low blood pressure (shock) and coma. Up to 50% of people with these more severe symptoms die.
Doctors diagnose yellow fever by growing the virus and detecting antibodies to the virus in the blood. A vaccine that is 95% effective at preventing yellow fever is available, but there is no specific treatment for the infection.
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