What is being done about yellow fever? Should children be vaccinated?
Vaccination is the single most important measure for preventing yellow fever. The yellow fever 17 D vaccine is safe and highly effective. The protective effect (immunity) occurs within one week in 95% of people vaccinated. In order to prevent yellow fever outbreaks, WHO recommends: • administering yellow fever vaccine in endemic countries as part of routine infant immunization at the age of nine months; • preventing outbreaks in high-risk areas through mass vaccination campaigns and control of Aedes aegypti in urban centres. Because vaccination coverage in many areas is not optimal, WHO recommends: • instituting a sensitive and reliable yellow fever surveillance system, including laboratories to analyse blood samples and confirm suspected cases; • responding to outbreaks by conducting mass vaccination campaigns. Yellow fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever transmitted to people by infected mosquitoes. Symptoms range from mild to severe; 20-50% of those with severe illness will die of the
