Infecting more than 43 countries in 2012 (WHO and Unanderra Family Doctors 2012 statistics), yellow fever is a viral disease, which uses blood transmission to spread. Without proper treatment, yellow fever can lead someone to chronic disease and even death. The ‘yellow fever’ term comes from its famous symptom: jaundice. This symptom only appears at the chronic stages when the patient’s skin colour turns to yellow.
Symptoms
It takes 3 – 6 days for the early symptoms to become recognizable. At the seventh day, a patient may begin suffering from muscle pain, vomiting, weakness, headache, and fever. These symptoms may last to 3 days and without prompt medical treatment, patient may progress to the second stage of yellow fever your Unanderra Doctor will easily recognize: the ‘toxic’ stage. WHO reported 15% – 25% of yellow fever patients progress each year to this stage and roughly 50% of them die within 2 weeks after their GP identified the symptoms. Jaundice, liver failure, bleeding, and kidney failure occur during this stage.
Preventions as Suggested by Your Unanderra Doctor
Even though it may lead to death, this disease is preventable. Yellow fever vaccination can help you live a healthy life without worrying about this disease. This vaccine is 100% safe and effective. At Unanderra Family Doctors, we strongly recommend you to taking this vaccination before you travel to any of the 43 yellow fever-infected countries.
Mosquitoes are the primary transmission agent of yellow fever virus. Avoiding them will keep the virus away from your life. Therefore, we recommend you taking the following measures to avoid mosquitoes, especially if you are traveling to any yellow fever endemic countries:
- Wear a mosquito repellent. Your repellent should contain at least Picaridin or DEET
- While going outdoors, wear long-sleeved and light-coloured clothes
- Avoid wearing cologne or perfume with distinct smell
- Keep your hygiene
- Use a mosquito net while sleeping
Should you take a yellow fever vaccination?
We strongly urge you to take this vaccination before travelling to or from a yellow fever endemic country. You can consult with your Unanderra Doctor to gain information about how exactly you can get this vaccination and its certificate.
If you are planning to travel to Australia, you must hold an international yellow fever vaccination certificate. Any person older than 1 year who have stayed at least one night in a yellow fever endemic country is subject to this rule. You must obtain both the vaccination and its certification at least within 6 days before you touched our land.
Before travelling, we strongly recommend checking any yellow-fever entry requirements for your travel destination, including any country you will transit by contacting their embassies in Australia. Each country may hold different rule regarding yellow fever quarantine requirements, which is the reason you should check our Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) web site for detailed information about this subject.
Upon your arrival after travelling through a yellow fever endemic country, if you do not possess the yellow fever vaccination certificate, we are rightful by the law either to refuse your entry to Australian soil or ask you to get vaccination on-arrival. However, we may welcome your visit even if you do not possess the certificate if you arrived from yellow-fever endemic country.
One of our friendly customer care representatives should be able to assist you to get further information. Please make an appointment today and come into our Unanderra Doctor mixed billing General Medical Practice and Surgery to discuss how we can help.
