YELLOW FEVER VACCINE

Recommendation:

The Vaccine Center and Travel Medicine Clinic strongly recommends that everyone traveling to a country that has the disease “yellow fever” should receive a vaccination against yellow fever virus infection. Furthermore, many countries in South America and Africa require that travelers entering their countries show proof of yellow fever vaccination by presenting an official Certificate of Vaccination in the WHO (World Health Organization) format. In countries where yellow fever is present all-year-round visitors must present a yellow fever vaccination card or they will not be allowed to enter the country. In some countries a vaccination will be given to you by the border control officials; but, the vaccine quality cannot be assured and the price is usually very expensive.

Do I need other Vaccines when traveling to a Yellow Fever country?

Required vs. Recommended Vaccines: The yellow fever vaccine is required by many countries. This means that a person cannot enter the country unless they can show proof of vaccination (see below). Almost always there are other recommended travel vaccines most health authorities (including the CDC) advise Travelers to receive. For example, Hepatitis A Vaccine and Typhoid Vaccine are almost always recommended in Yellow Fever Countries.

We recommend a Travel Medicine Consultation at our clinic to determine what vaccines and prescriptions are recommended for you trip.

Do I need any medications when traveling to a Yellow Fever Country?

Most often yes. Many countries that have yellow fever disease also have malaria, for which there is no vaccine. Therefore, you may need a prescription for anti-malaria medications to take on your trip. There may be other prescriptions you may need, such as medications for Infectious Diarrhea.

We recommend a Travel Medicine Consultation at our clinic to determine what vaccines and prescriptions are recommended for you trip.

What is involved in a Travel Medicine Consultation?

The Vaccine Center and Travel Medicine Clinic provides Travel Medicine Consultations for travelers by reviewing each client’s specific itinerary, previous immunizations, medical history, allergies and contraindications, and then offering the following:

• All appropriate vaccines (based on CDC Guidelines)
• Draw blood titers in house to prove immunity from previous vaccinations or exposures if requested
• Prescriptions for medications as indicated, including
• Anti-Malarial
• Traveler’s Diarrhea
• Acute Mountain Sickness Prevention
• Motion Sickness Prevention
• Jet Lag, etc.
• Official Yellow Fever Exempt Letters for persons with a medical contraindication to Yellow Fever Vaccine
• Insect Precautions and Insect Repellents
• Blood Clot Prevention for long air flights
• Water and Food precautions
• Current outbreaks and health and safety concerns for areas of travel
• Pre-travel Checklist
• Skin and Wound Care
• Swimming and Water Exposure Advice
• Safety and Crime Avoidance
• Consular Information
• Maps of Malaria and Yellow Fever areas, if appropriate.

What is Yellow Fever?

Yellow fever is a virus carried by a certain type of mosquito called Aedes aegypti. The virus enters a human through the bite of a mosquito and then enters the liver. Once in the liver the virus replicates and infects more liver cells causing massive inflammation and destruction of the liver. Because the liver is involved in so many functions of the human body this disease causes widespread dysfunction of many body systems such as: digestion, cerebral (brain) functions, blood regulation, protein production, bile production and excretion, and more. The name “yellow fever” was given because when the liver is infected a person literally turns yellow, a condition known as jaundice, even the eyes can take on a yellow color. Persons infected with yellow fever generally are considered a medical emergency and even under the best medical care have a 20% to 30% chance of dying. There is no specific therapy or cure for yellow fever; your body must eventually fight it off by producing antibodies that destroy the virus.

Some History of Yellow Fever:

Years ago yellow fever was more widespread than it is today. The mosquito that transmits the disease can be found in many countries, including the United States. It would breakout in epidemics called “Urban Transmission” and sweep through cities causing widespread death. The disease has been referenced in movies such as Gone with the Wind. In Africa and South America the disease persists through jungle or sylvatic transmission and is always a potential threat.

Where is Yellow Fever?

Yellow fever is endemic or, always present, on the continents of South America and Africa and in the country of Panama. See the list below.

Countries where Yellow Fever is present

Angola	Equatorial Guinea	Panama
Argentina	Ethiopia	Paraguay
Benin	French Guiana	Peru
Bolivia	The Gambia	Rwanda
Brazil	Gabon	Sao Tome & Principe
Burkina Faso	Ghana	Senegal
Burundi	Guinea	Sierra Leone
Cameroon	Guinea-Bissau	Somalia
Central African Republic	Guyana	Sudan
Chad	Kenya	Suriname
Congo	Liberia	Tanzania
Congo, DRC	Mali	Trinidad & Tobago
Colombia	Mauritania	Togo
Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)	Niger	Uganda
Ecuador	Nigeria	Venezuela

Content Source:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID)
Division of Vector-Borne Diseases (DVBD)

The Yellow Fever Certificate:

Everyone receiving a vaccine against Yellow Fever should also receive a Certificate of Vaccination Against Yellow Fever as shown below. Some people should not receive the vaccination due to medical reasons such as: suppressed immune system, cancer/chemotherapy or severe egg allergy. Also advanced age and multiple medical problems can be a relative contraindication.

If you cannot take the Yellow Fever Vaccine for medical reasons you can still obtain a exemption certificate and letter from the Vaccine Center that will permit you to enter a country that otherwise requires vaccination.

How To Save Money And Get Better Service By Choosing The Right Travel Medicine Clinic:

1. Only go to clinics that offer both vaccines and prescriptions. For many itineraries, including Central or South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, CDC guidelines require both vaccinations as well as prescriptions. For your trip, you may need prescriptions for malaria, travelers’ diarrhea, jet lag, and high-altitude illness prevention. Some vaccine clinics do NOT offer prescriptions. Always ask the clinic if they do both. Otherwise, you may have to pay for two office visit or administrative fees, not to mention the time and inconvenience of having to make two trips to two clinics. Worse yet, you may go on your trip without knowing you need a prescription.
2. Only go to clinics that carry all the vaccines available in the United States. Ask the clinic if they have in stock today hard to find vaccines such as Oral Typhoid, Japanese Encephalitis or Rabies vaccine. Often some clinics claim they carry all vaccines and then special order them once they find a client. The Vaccine Center has all vaccines available in the United States in stock.
3. Only go to a clinic that offers you access to a physician if you need it. Ask the clinic if there is a physician you can talk to if you need to. Sometimes people have complex medical issues that require physician input. The Vaccine Center offers access to board-certified physicians if needed.
4. Only go to clinics than can offer you in-house blood tests to check your immunity to vaccines you know you already had, or have been exposed to in life. Always ask the clinic if they offer blood titer testing on premise. In some cases, you may not need the vaccine. A blood test (blood titers) can cost a fraction of getting the vaccine again. Further, the Vaccine Center blood titer testing prices are a fraction of most major labs and we do the blood draw right in our clinic.
5. Only go to vaccine clinics that focus only on vaccine medicine. Many so called “vaccine clinics” also do urgent care, primary care, occupational medicine or other unrelated medical services. The Vaccine Center does no primary care or other unrelated medical services.
6. Only go to Clinics that offer the Yellow Fever Vaccine every day. Some clinics offer this only once every week or two. Ask the clinic if they offer Yellow Fever Vaccine every day. Since Yellow Fever Vaccine is required for entry in many countries, this vaccine may be mandatory for your trip. Also ask the clinic if they are qualified to give you a formal “Yellow Fever Exempt Letter” if you have contraindications to getting the Yellow Fever Vaccine.
7. Only go to clinics that do not charge you an administrative fee for follow up visits for vaccines in a series. Always ask if there is an administrative/office fee for subsequent visits. All Vaccine Center follow-up visits for vaccines in a series are not assessed an administrative or office visit fee.

The Vaccine Center and Travel Medicine Clinic has ALL the recommended and/or required vaccines needed for your travel:

Hepatitis A	MMR	Typhoid Pills
Hepatitis B	Pneumococcal	Varicella
Hepatitis A/B	Polio	Yellow Fever
Influenza	Rabies	Zostavax
Japanese Encephalitis	TD/Tdap (Tetanus)	Gardasil (HPV)
Meningococcal	Typhoid IM

 

Back to top