Perspective - (2021) Volume 9, Issue 8
Yellow fever is a viral disease that originated in central Africa. It is transmitted to human through the bite of infected Aedes aegypti mosquito. This is characterized by a high fever and jaundice. Symptoms include yellowness in urine, eyes and skin. Sometimes this fever may be chronic and life threatening which results in organs dysfunction and death. This study focused on different aspects of Yellow fever.
Yellow fever is caused by a virus called flavivirus belongs to Flaviviridae family and may be transmitted through three cycles named as Jungle transmission, Intermediate transmission and Urban transmission.
• Jungle transmission: This is the transmission of virus between non-human beings such as monkeys and mosquitos which are found in forest areas. This virus can be transmitted through mosquitoes from monkeys to humans when people visit jungle areas.
• Intermediate transmission: Monkeys are the intermediate transmitters of virus. This transmission also takes place in jungle areas but virus may be transmitted through mosquitoes from monkeys to human or human to human.
• Urban transmission: This transmission occurs in urban areas only when infected person from jungle areas travels to urban areas. This virus is transmitted between humans and urban mosquitoes.
Symptoms are classified into Initial stage, acute stage and toxic stage.
In Initial and acute stages the symptoms include Fever, Nausea, Vomiting, Loss of Appetite, Joint pains, Dizziness, chills, Body pains, etc.
In toxic stage the symptoms are severe which results in organ failures (kidney failure, liver failure), Bleeding gums, Fatigue, Recurring fever, abdominal pain, Jaundice, coma etc. People suffering with toxic stage may die within 2 weeks.
Diagnosis can be done only after testing blood samples.
• Blood test reveals the presence of virus in the body.
• Blood test like RT-PCR helps to detect the presence of virus in early stages.
• Blood tests like ELISA and PRNT detects the presence of virus in toxic stage.
• Blood abnormalities in toxic stage may include drop of white blood cells, low platelet count, disturbances in functioning of liver, kidney etc.
These abnormalities can be demonstrated through blood test.
First of all patient should be hospitalized for proper care and observation as there is no antiviral medication to treat yellow fever. Only supportive care is given such as providing Oxygen support, Kidney Dialysis, bringing blood pressure to normal condition, Plasma transfusion helps in clotting of blood. The person who is infected with virus should be kept away from further mosquito bites to avoid transmission of virus. Immune system plays an important role to fight against the virus which is present in the body.
Prevention is the only way to stop the spread of disease as there is no proper cure for this disease. Maintaining our surroundings neat and clean helps to get rid of mosquitoes as it is the primary agent for the spread of disease. Vaccination plays an important role to prevent the disease.
Citation: Memish Z (2021) Yellow Fever Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment and its Preventive Measures. Gen Med (Los Angeles). 9: 355.
Received: 09-Aug-2021 Published: 30-Aug-2021, DOI: 10.35248/2327-5146.21.9.355
Copyright: © 2021 Memish Z. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
