Yellow fever

"American Plague" and "Yellow plague" redirect here. For the rock band, see The American Plague. For the Yellow Plague of Rhos in medieval Wales, see Maelgwn Gwynedd. For other uses, see Yellow fever (disambiguation).

Yellow fever
Other namesYellow jack, yellow plague,[1] bronze john[2]
A TEM micrograph of yellow fever virus (234,000× magnification)
SpecialtyInfectious disease
SymptomsFever, chills, muscle pain, headache, yellow skin[3]
ComplicationsLiver failure, bleeding[3]
Usual onset3–6 days post exposure[3]
Duration3–4 days[3]
CausesYellow fever virus spread by mosquitoes[3]
Diagnostic methodBlood test[4]
PreventionYellow fever vaccine[3]
TreatmentSupportive care[3]
Frequency~130,000 severe cases in Africa alone (2013)[3][5]
Deaths~78,000 in Africa alone (2013)[3][5]

Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration.[3] In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains—particularly in the back—and headaches.[3] Symptoms typically improve within five days.[3] In about 15% of people, within a day of improving the fever comes back, abdominal pain occurs, and liver damage begins causing yellow skin.[3][6] If this occurs, the risk of bleeding and kidney problems is increased.[3][7]

The disease is caused by the yellow fever virus and is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito.[3][8] It infects humans, other primates,[9] and several types of mosquitoes.[3] In cities, it is spread primarily by Aedes aegypti, a type of mosquito found throughout the tropics and subtropics.[3] The virus is an RNA virus of the genus Flavivirus.[10][11] The disease may be difficult to tell apart from other illnesses, especially in the early stages.[3] To confirm a suspected case, blood-sample testing with a polymerase chain reaction is required.[4]

A safe and effective vaccine against yellow fever exists, and some countries require vaccinations for travelers.[3] Other efforts to prevent infection include reducing the population of the transmitting mosquitoes.[3] In areas where yellow fever is common, early diagnosis of cases and immunization of large parts of the population are important to prevent outbreaks.[3] Once a person is infected, management is symptomatic; no specific measures are effective against the virus.[3] Death occurs in up to half of those who get severe disease.[3][12]

In 2013, yellow fever was estimated to have caused 130,000 severe infections and 78,000 deaths in Africa.[3][5] Approximately 90 percent of an estimated 200,000 cases of yellow fever per year occur in Africa.[13] Nearly a billion people live in an area of the world where the disease is common.[3] It is common in tropical areas of the continents of South America and Africa,[14] but not in Asia.[3][15] Since the 1980s, the number of cases of yellow fever has been increasing.[3][16] This is believed to be due to fewer people being immune, more people living in cities, people moving frequently, and changing climate increasing the habitat for mosquitoes.[3]

The disease originated in Africa and spread to the Americas starting in the 17th century with the European trafficking of enslaved Africans from sub-Saharan Africa.[1][17] Since the 17th century, several major outbreaks of the disease have occurred in the Americas, Africa, and Europe.[1] In the 18th and 19th centuries, yellow fever was considered one of the most dangerous infectious diseases; numerous epidemics swept through major cities of the US and in other parts of the world.[1]

In 1927, yellow fever virus became the first human virus to be isolated.[10][18]

  1. ^ a b c d Oldstone M (2009). Viruses, Plagues, and History: Past, Present and Future. Oxford University Press. pp. 102–4. ISBN 978-0-19-975849-4. Archived from the original on 23 February 2017.
  2. ^ Bazin H (2011). Vaccination: a history from Lady Montagu to genetic engineering. Montrouge: J. Libbey Eurotext. p. 407. ISBN 978-2-7420-0775-2. Archived from the original on 23 February 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab "Yellow fever Fact sheet N°100". World Health Organization. May 2013. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  4. ^ a b Tolle MA (April 2009). "Mosquito-borne diseases". Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care. 39 (4): 97–140. doi:10.1016/j.cppeds.2009.01.001. PMID 19327647.
  5. ^ a b c Garske T, Van Kerkhove MD, Yactayo S, Ronveaux O, Lewis RF, Staples JE, Perea W, Ferguson NM, Yellow Fever Expert Committee (2014). "Yellow Fever in Africa: Estimating the Burden of Disease and Impact of Mass Vaccination from Outbreak and Serological Data". PLOS Medicine. 11 (5): e1001638. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001638. PMC 4011853. PMID 24800812. e1001638.
  6. ^ Scully C (2014). Scully's Medical Problems in Dentistry. Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 572. ISBN 978-0-7020-5963-6.
  7. ^ "Yellow fever". World Health Organization. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  8. ^ "Yellow fever - Symptoms and causes". Mayo Clinic. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  9. ^ Goes de Jesus, Jaqueline; Gräf, Tiago; Giovanetti, Marta; Mares-Guia, Maria Angélica; Xavier, Joilson; Lima Maia, Maricelia; Fonseca, Vagner; Fabri, Allison; dos Santos, Roberto Fonseca; Mota Pereira, Felicidade; Ferraz Oliveira Santos, Leandro (11 August 2020). "Yellow fever transmission in non-human primates, Bahia, Northeastern Brazil". PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 14 (8): e0008405. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0008405. ISSN 1935-2727. PMC 7418952. PMID 32780745.
  10. ^ a b Lindenbach BD, Rice CM (2007). "Flaviviridae: The Viruses and Their Replication". In Knipe DM, Howley PM (eds.). Fields Virology (5th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. 1101. ISBN 978-0-7817-6060-7.
  11. ^ "Flavivirus | virus genus | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  12. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions About Yellow Fever". CDC. 21 August 2015. Archived from the original on 23 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  13. ^ Barnett, Elizabeth D. (2007). "Yellow Fever: Epidemiology and Prevention". Clinical Infectious Diseases. 44 (6): 850–856. doi:10.1086/511869. PMID 17304460.
  14. ^ Lataillade, Lucy de Guilhem de; Vazeille, Marie; Obadia, Thomas; Madec, Yoann; Mousson, Laurence; Kamgang, Basile; Chen, Chun-Hong; Failloux, Anna-Bella; Yen, Pei-Shi (16 November 2020). "Risk of yellow fever virus transmission in the Asia-Pacific region". Nature Communications. 11 (1): 5801. Bibcode:2020NatCo..11.5801L. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19625-9. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 7669885. PMID 33199712.
  15. ^ "CDC Yellow Fever". Archived from the original on 21 December 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  16. ^ Barrett AD, Higgs S (2007). "Yellow fever: a disease that has yet to be conquered". Annual Review of Entomology. 52: 209–229. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.52.110405.091454. PMID 16913829. S2CID 9896455.
  17. ^ "History of Yellow Fever in the U.S." ASM.org. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  18. ^ Sfakianos J, Hecht A (2009). Babcock H (ed.). West Nile Virus (Curriculum-based juvenile nonfiction). Deadly Diseases & Epidemics. Foreword by David Heymann (2nd ed.). New York: Chelsea House. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-60413-254-0. The yellow fever virus was isolated in 1927