Yellow fever vaccination: Who should be vaccinated?
In principle, a yellow fever vaccination is particularly important for the local population in yellow fever endemic areas, since a hundred percent protection against transmission by mosquito bites can hardly be guaranteed, even with great vigilance. If about 60 to 90 percent of the population of an endemic area is vaccinated, outbreaks of the disease can be prevented.
However, vaccination is also important for travelers to yellow fever endemic areas. In some countries there is even a vaccination requirement: you are not allowed to travel to such a country (not even in transit) without appropriate proof. However, vaccination is not only recommended for countries where it is mandatory, but for all countries with a potential risk of yellow fever infection. For which countries a yellow fever vaccination is advisable or mandatory, you can find out from your travel doctor.
Procedure of the yellow fever vaccination
The yellow fever vaccination is an active vaccination with a live vaccine. This means that the body is injected with attenuated yellow fever viruses. Because the pathogens are weakened, they cannot usually cause yellow fever. In the days following the yellow fever vaccination, the patient’s immune system develops antibodies against the viruses and fights them. In this way, the body’s own defense system “learns” to destroy the yellow fever viruses. The vaccine used is the so-called 17D yellow fever vaccine, which has been used effectively for over 70 years.
How often is vaccinated?
However, country-specific entry requirements may change. It is therefore important to find out in good time before a planned trip and to have the vaccination refreshed if necessary (every ten years).
According to experts, it may also make sense to repeat the vaccination every ten years for the following groups of people. These include:
- Children who were under two years old when they were first vaccinated.
- Women who received the vaccination during pregnancy.
- HIV-infected individuals
- Individuals who received MMR vaccination at the same time.
Where is vaccination given?
A special feature of the yellow fever vaccination is that only special physicians and licensed vaccination centers are allowed to administer it. These doctors, most of whom are tropical medicine specialists, receive certification from the World Health Organization (WHO) for this purpose and are then allowed to administer the yellow fever vaccine worldwide. It is the only vaccination subject to this special requirement.
Many people fear side effects or vaccine reactions when vaccinated. Yellow fever vaccine side effects are fortunately rare and the yellow fever vaccine is considered safe and well tolerated. Nevertheless, each patient must be verbally informed of potential yellow fever vaccine side effects by the physician prior to vaccination.
Generally, flu-like symptoms may occur three to four days after a yellow fever vaccination. This is because the yellow fever vaccine contains attenuated but basically functional viruses.
A specific yellow fever vaccine side effect is an allergic reaction to chicken egg white. This is because the yellow fever vaccine is particularly rich in chicken egg white and can therefore cause severe allergic reactions in people who are allergic to chicken egg white.
Who must not be vaccinated?
Since this is a live vaccination, people with a pronounced immune deficiency (for example, due to AIDS) should also only be vaccinated in exceptional cases. This is because a normally functioning immune system is important for building up vaccine protection. In addition, live vaccination can have unpredictable consequences in the case of immunodeficiency.
For people over 60 years of age, physicians should also weigh the benefits and risks of vaccination beforehand, as severe vaccine side effects can occur in very rare cases.
Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding and infants under the age of nine months should also not be vaccinated.
