Symptoms
After a mosquito bite and an infection with the yellow fever virus, illness does not necessarily have to occur. Especially in children there are often no symptoms of the disease, which is why yellow fever is asymptomatic here and the infection remains undetected.If the disease occurs, the incubation period, i.e. the time between mosquito bite and the first symptoms of the disease, is usually 3-6 days. Yellow fever can be divided into three different disease stages.
In the first stage, the so-called initial stage, there is often a sudden rise in fever up to 40 °C and severe chills. This is often accompanied by severe muscle and headaches, nausea, vomiting and a faster heartbeat (tachycardia). Characteristic at this stage is also the yellow discoloration of the patient, which is first visible on the conjunctiva.
This phenomenon is called jaundice or icterus. After about 3 to 4 days, the fever usually drops again and the disease can heal without consequences. This stage is called remission stage.
However, the fever can then rise again and the yellow fever can then progress more severely with organ damage. If the fever rises again, the stage of organ damage follows. This course occurs in about 15% of the patients, often in older people or people who already have problems with the immune system.
In the stage of organ damage of yellow fever, sudden liver and kidney failure may occur. Bleeding of the mucous membranes all over the body and bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract are also common. As a consequence of these complications, a circulatory shock can result, which can then lead to death. In this phase of the disease, about 50% of patients die from the consequences of yellow fever.
Therapy
With yellow fever, one can only fight the symptoms caused by the disease. For this reason, every person suffering from yellow fever receives intensive medical care and is constantly monitored to prevent further derailment of the symptoms. Frequently, attempts are made to supply the patient with sufficient water via infusions (hydration) and to administer sufficient painkilling medication. There are no drugs that directly combat the virus itself.
