Quiz: Yellow fever outbreak in Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo
1 How do you get yellow fever?
The yellow fever virus is transmitted by infected mosquitoes, most commonly from the Aedes species – the same mosquito that spreads the Zika, Chikungunya and Dengue virus.
2 What are some of the symptoms of yellow fever? (check all that apply)
Many people do not experience symptoms (or few symptoms), but when these do occur, the most common are fever, muscle pain with prominent backache, headache, loss of appetite, and nausea or vomiting. In most cases, symptoms disappear after 3 to 4 days.
A small percentage of patients enter a second, more toxic phase. High fever returns and several body systems are affected, usually the blood, the liver and the kidneys. People can develop yellowing of the skin and eyes, dark urine and abdominal pain with vomiting. Bleeding can occur from the mouth, nose, eyes or stomach.
3 How long does a regular dose of the yellow fever vaccine protect you for?
A single dose provides lifelong protection and costs less than US$ 1. The vaccine has been used for many decades and is safe and affordable, providing effective immunity against yellow fever within 10 days for more than 90% of people vaccinated and within 30 days for 99% of people vaccinated.
4 How long does one-fifth of a regular dose (a fractional dose) protect you for?
One-fifth of a standard vaccine dose can provide full protection against the disease for at least 12 months and likely longer.
5 Can yellow fever be fatal?
A small percentage of people who contract the yellow fever virus - roughly 15% - develop severe symptoms and 30-50% of those people die within 7 to 10 days.
6 How is WHO responding? (check all that apply)
In addition to deploying around 27 million doses of the vaccine to Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo, more than 4 times the volume normally planned for outbreak use in a 12 month period, WHO and partners including MSF, CDC, UNICEF, Gavi the Vacine Alliance, and Save the Children have also: o strengthened laboratory capacity in the country, including sending mobile labs; o worked with manufacturers to produce vaccines and syringes o sent vaccines from the global stockpile; o supported governments to plan and implement mass vaccination campaigns; o deployed more than 200 experts to affected countries; and o provided technical guidance for clinical care, training and social mobilization.
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