At present, there is a live attenuated yellow fever 17D vaccine that is widely available for protection against the virus. The vaccine has been used for over 60 years and is highly effective although a majority of recipients experience minor side effects following vaccination such as headaches, soreness at the injection site and fever. The vaccination is administered in a single dose via a 0.5ml subcutaneous injection. (Monath, 2005) Individuals are immunized approximately 10 days after administration of the vaccination; therefore people traveling to countries at risk of yellow fever should be vaccinated against the virus at least 10 days before their departure. However, since it is a live vaccine ideally it should not be given to pregnant women or immunosuppressed individuals. For example, in the UK the Department of Health does
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Despite the use of the vaccine globally for several years, safety concerns about the live vaccine were identified, revealing that in rare circumstances the yellow fever 17D vaccine can cause a disease that is similar to the wild type yellow fever virus. The adverse events caused by the yellow fever 17D vaccine have been classified as yellow fever vaccine associated neurotropic disease (YEL-AND) and yellow fever vaccine associated viscerotropic disease (YEL-AVD). Since the 1940s we have known about yellow fever vaccine associated neurotropic disease which is characterized by self-limiting meningitis or encephalitis that contributes to neuroinvasion and direct viral injury. (McMahon et al., 2007) Moreover, there is clinical or radiological evidence to suggest that other YEL-AND cases are manifest by demyelinating inflammatory syndromes such as Guillain Barré or acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. Fortunately, neurological adverse events from the yellow fever 17D vaccine are rare with an overall reporting rate of 0.8 per 100,000 in the US. However, it is still a potentially
Despite the use of the vaccine globally for several years, safety concerns about the live vaccine were identified, revealing that in rare circumstances the yellow fever 17D vaccine can cause a disease that is similar to the wild type yellow fever virus. The adverse events caused by the yellow fever 17D vaccine have been classified as yellow fever vaccine associated neurotropic disease (YEL-AND) and yellow fever vaccine associated viscerotropic disease (YEL-AVD). Since the 1940s we have known about yellow fever vaccine associated neurotropic disease which is characterized by self-limiting meningitis or encephalitis that contributes to neuroinvasion and direct viral injury. (McMahon et al., 2007) Moreover, there is clinical or radiological evidence to suggest that other YEL-AND cases are manifest by demyelinating inflammatory syndromes such as Guillain Barré or acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. Fortunately, neurological adverse events from the yellow fever 17D vaccine are rare with an overall reporting rate of 0.8 per 100,000 in the US. However, it is still a potentially