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This Week - Y : Yellow Fever

Yellow fever is a serious infection spread by mosquitoes. It's found in certain areas of Africa and South and Central America. You should have a yellow fever vaccination if you're travelling to an area where there's a risk of getting it.

Check if you're at risk of yellow fever

You can get yellow fever if you're bitten by an infected mosquito. The mosquitoes that carry the yellow fever virus bite during the day.

Yellow fever is very common in certain parts of the world, including:

• parts of sub-Saharan Africa (the area below the Sahara desert)
• parts of South America, including Trinidad and Tobago
• parts of Central America

Yellow fever is not found in the UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand or the Pacific Islands.

Check before you travel

You can get health advice for a country you're travelling to on the TravelHealthPro website

How to lower your risk of yellow fever

If you're travelling to an area where yellow fever is found, there are some things you can do to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.

Yellow fever vaccination

The yellow fever vaccine is recommended if:

• you're travelling to an area where yellow fever is found
• you need a yellow fever certificate to prove you've been vaccinated

Some people at risk of yellow fever through their work should also get vaccinated.

The yellow fever vaccine is safe for most people who are 9 months old or over.

You have to pay for the yellow fever vaccine for travel, and you can only get it from registered yellow fever vaccination centres.

Find out more about the yellow fever vaccine

Yellow fever vaccination centres

Find your nearest yellow fever vaccination centre on the National Travel Health Network and Centre website

Symptoms of yellow fever

Yellow fever symptoms usually start 3 to 6 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito, but sometimes they can take longer to appear.

Some yellow fever symptoms are similar to flu, such as:

• high temperature
• headache
• feeling or being sick
• aches and pains
• loss of appetite
• feeling generally unwell

These symptoms often last 3 or 4 days. But a small number of people get more serious symptoms within 24 hours of feeling better.

More serious symptoms include:

• yellowing of your skin and eyes (jaundice)
• dark pee
• stomach pain
• bleeding from your eyes, nose, mouth or stomach - you may have blood in your vomit or poo

These more serious symptoms can be fatal.

Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if:

Treatment for yellow fever

There's no specific treatment for yellow fever.

Most people make a full recovery after 3 or 4 days.

Things you can do to help ease your symptoms include:

• taking painkillers, such as paracetamol or ibuprofen, which can help lower your temperature and relieve muscle pain or backache
• drinking plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration

If you have more serious symptoms of yellow fever, you'll need to go into hospital immediately to be treated.

If you want to find out more about this week's subject you can visit the Original article on the NHS website. If you are worried by any aspect of your health make sure you go and see your doctor or book an appointment at your local clinic.