An outbreak of yellow fever is ravaging Brazil, driven by mosquitoes that are now reaching popular tourist destinations typically removed from such outbreaks, and prompting a warning call from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC warns that travelers should be vaccinated at least 10 days before visiting areas affected by the outbreak, according to their Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which was co-authored with a researcher from the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH). Unfortunately, there is a catch that comes with that: the Food and Drug Administration approved vaccine–YF-VAX–is not currently available in the United States. This is due to manufacturing difficulties. Further, the only alternative–Stamaril–is only available through a limited, specific set of clinics.
“It may take several weeks to make an appointment, and potentially substantial travel time to reach a clinic in some parts of the country,” Davidson Hamer, the report’s lead author and a professor of global health at BUSPH, said.
All the same, he described the severity of this batch of yellow fever as great, with a substantial risk of death associated–so simply because the drug is not available, does not mean one should take their chances. Since January 2018, 10 international travelers have come down with yellow fever linked to Brazil and four have died of it. Most of those infected do not show symptoms, but for those who develop severe illness, the fatality rate drifts between 20 and 60 percent.
This latest outbreak began in December 2016 and currently exists in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, and São Paulo, as well as some urban areas of Bahia state.