Yellow Fever
Yellow Fever
“Sleep tight; don’t let the bed bugs bite!” Seriously, if your bed happens to be South American or African region; do not let them bite! An infected mosquito can inject an individual with the West Nile Virus, Malaria, and the most severe, lesser known, Yellow Fever. Each year, Yellow Fever infects an estimated 200,000, and kills over 30,000.
1. Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes. The reason it is called “yellow fever” is because the yellow effect some people experience during the symptom of jaundice.
2. The infection, incubates in the body for up to 6 days, which is closely followed by two phases of symptoms. The first stage, attacks an individuals body internally. The most toxic phase, or the 2nd phase is only experienced by 15% of people. During this period, an individual’s symptoms evolve from an internal stage to an external.
3. This virus is an arbovirus of the flavivirus genus. The primary carrier of this genus is the mosquito. This virus can travel from host to host through a bite or contact; primarily between monkeys and humans.
4. Yellow fever symptoms take place in two separate stages. In the initial phase, patients will suffer a fever, muscle pain, back aches, head aches, shivers, loss of appetite and vomiting. The symptoms of the first phase mainly disappear within 3 to 4 days, for all but, 15% of the patients. These unlucky 15%, experience the most violent stage, or the 2nd phase. This stage is most notably known for patients acquiring severe jaundice, along with bleeding from any orifice.
5. Unfortunately there is no specific treatment for yellow fever. A hospital can only truly attempt to deal with the symptoms and not the actual disease, itself