Brazil: 90 pct of most at-risk for yellow fever vaccinated

SAO PAULO – Ninety per cent of people living in the areas most affected by a yellow fever outbreak in Brazil have now been vaccinated, authorities said Thursday.

Much of Brazil is considered at risk for yellow fever, and people in those areas are supposed to be vaccinated as part of their routine care. But the areas at the heart of this year’s outbreak had a vaccination rate of just 48 per cent when it began, said Marcio Garcia, the co-ordinator for surveillance and emergency response at the Health Ministry.

The rate in those areas in now at 90 per cent after a vaccination campaign, he said at a news conference.

So far in the Southern Hemisphere’s summer rainy season, the Health Ministry has confirmed 151 cases of the mosquito-borne disease. Of those, 54 died. Hundreds of other cases are being investigated in the largest outbreak in Brazil since 2000.

The Health Ministry has sent 8.2 million extra vaccine doses to the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, the epicenter of the outbreak, and four other states considered at risk. While Minas Gerais has seen the vast majority of the cases, two other states have confirmed cases and others are investigating cases.

The ministry has also released 40 million reais ($12.8 million) to the cities and towns affected by the outbreak to fund vaccination and prevention activities.

There is no known treatment for yellow fever, and vaccination campaigns are considered crucial to containing outbreaks.

But Garcia warned Brazilians not to seek vaccines unnecessarily. “A person who isn’t at risk today who asks (for a vaccine) at a health centre will end up taking away the opportunity from someone who is really recommended for vaccination,” he said.

Symptoms of the disease include fever, muscle pain, and nausea; some patients also experience abdominal pain, kidney problems and the jaundice from which the disease gets its name.