Ministry urges persons to safeguard yellow fever certificate – warns that vaccine not administered at airport

Jul 15, 2016 News

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People’s yellow fever international vaccination cards should be treated as important as their passport.
“Keep it with your passport as part of your documentation as you travel, especially if you have multiple countries as part of your travel,” said Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, at a press conference yesterday at the Ministry of Public Health.
The press conference comes on the heels of a recent advisory issued by the Ministry that some countries require yellow fever vaccination in the wake of a yellow fever outbreak in Angola.
While persons vaccinated are given a card to reflect their immunisation status, they are, however, given a certificate (yellow card) for travel purposes. Although certificates are issued at a number of designated facilities at a cost of $1,000, the yellow fever vaccine can be had at any health centre, especially for children. However, children under 12 will not be required to pay for their certificates.
A blue card is usually given to those vaccinated at health centres, but this would not facilitate international travel.
The yellow fever vaccine is part of the Public Health Ministry’s regular vaccination scheme, according to Dr. Oneka Scott, who shared the press conference spotlight with Dr. Persaud yesterday.
According to Dr. Scott, who holds the position of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) Coordinator and Adolescent Health Focal Point, but is currently filling the gap for the Head of Maternal and Child Health of the Ministry, about 1,500 doses of the vaccine were issued at the Public Health Ministry alone in the past two weeks. At New Amsterdam, 1,000 doses were administered.
She disclosed that certificates for the yellow fever vaccine are made available at the public health facilities in Region Two (Suddie Hospital), Six (New Amsterdam Hospital) and Nine (Lethem Hospital).
The only private health facility that is supporting the Ministry’s yellow fever certification is St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, according to Dr. Scott.
Dr. Persaud noted that while the vaccination is required once during an individual’s lifetime, those who have never been so immunised should seek to be if they have to travel to certain locations.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the areas for which yellow fever vaccination is required are many countries in the African continent along with Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Suriname, French Guiana, Venezuela, Columbia and Guyana. These countries all have the conditions for the disease which is transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito to thrive.
According to WHO, yellow fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes. The yellow in the name refers to the jaundice that affects some patients. Symptoms of the disease include: fever, headache, jaundice, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting and fatigues.
WHO has noted that a small portion of patients who contract the disease develop severe symptoms and approximately half of those die within seven to 10 days. For this reason it is imperative for countries at risk to prevent access to the disease.
Guyanese who return home from territories believed to have the disease will be monitored for at least six days or possibly even quarantined if this measure is seen as necessary, according to the CMO.
Since the Ministry’s recent yellow fever announcement many with overseas travel plans have been flocking to health facilities to get yellow fever vaccines and/or international certificates.
“A lot of persons have been coming in and saying that their cards were either misplaced or they were taken at various points of entry by the receiving country…we are appealing to people to please insist on retaining your card,” the CMO emphasised.
However, it was disclosed yesterday that if an individual misplaces his or her certificate they could simply make a report to the Ministry disclosing information about where and when they were vaccinated in an effort to retrieve this information before a new certificate is issued. However, if that individual’s information is not retrieved they will be eligible for another vaccine.
The yellow fever vaccine should be administered, at least, 10 days prior to travel, as within this period the body is expected to develop antibodies to protect against the mosquito borne disease. “You can’t have the vaccine today and expect tomorrow you will be well protected; you would not have developed enough antibodies to give you the protection,” Dr. Persaud asserted.
Moreover, persons are not eligible to be vaccinated at airports.
“We have had a lot of persons turning up at airports demanding the vaccine from the Port Health Medex there, but they cannot issue it. We do not keep vaccines at the airport, so we are advising everybody who have bought their tickets before to travel to those endemic countries to come here (Ministry of Public Health),” appealed Dr. Scott.

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