148 Health Problems from Mosquitoes
Yellow Fever
Yellow fever is carried by mosquitoes in Africa and some parts of South
America. There are two kinds of yellow fever and they spread in different ways:
Jungle yellow fever is spread from infected mosquitoes to
monkeys, and back again from monkeys to mosquitoes. People
get infected when they are bitten by mosquitoes that have been
infected by monkeys. Jungle yellow fever is rare and mostly
affects people who work in tropical rain forests.
Urban yellow fever is the cause of most yellow fever outbreaks and
epidemics. Like malaria and dengue, urban yellow fever spreads when a
mosquito bites and sucks the blood of an infected person, and then passes the
infection to the next person it bites.
Urban yellow fever is spread by the same black mosquito that spreads
dengue. It has white dots along its back and legs. These mosquitoes live and
breed in standing water in cities, towns, and villages.
Signs
Yellow fever causes fever, chills, muscle pain (especially backache),
headache, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, high fever and slow
pulse. For most people, the illness goes away after 3 or 4 days.
But for some people, about 1 out of every 7, the fever returns
24 hours after the first signs go away. Jaundice, abdominal
pain, and vomiting may be followed by bleeding from the mouth,
nose, eyes, and stomach. Death may occur within 10 to 14 days,
but half of the people sick with this second round of yellow fever
survive with no serious damage to their health.
Treatment
The best treatment for yellow fever is bed rest
and drinking plenty of fluids. Most people recover
completely over time and develop a resistance to it.
A small number of people do get the disease again,
before they have recovered from getting it the first
time. But they too usually recover.
To help prevent yellow
fever, get rid of places
where mosquitoes can
breed and keep water
containers covered.
Prevention
Like malaria and dengue, the best way to prevent
yellow fever is to avoid mosquito bites (see page
143) and control mosquitoes (see pages 149 to 153).
Vaccination is the only sure prevention for yellow
fever, but may not be available or may be expensive.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012