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Ministry expects shipment of Yellow Fever vaccine on Thursday
-as several countries waive vaccination requirement
A shipment of Yellow Fever Vaccine is expected by Thursday.
This is according to Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, who during an interview with
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud.
this publication disclosed that “in the meantime we are continuing with what we have.”
He noted that while the Ministry can assure persons travelling to territories on the continent of Africa, this will only be granted if persons have not been vaccinated in the past. This is in light of the fact, Dr. Persaud noted, that if a person has been vaccinated once, he or she is protected from Yellow Fever for a lifetime.
Moreover, he disclosed that even persons would have lost their vaccination card, can visit the health facility where they were vaccinated in order to obtain a copy of their vaccination record. “Those who know they have been vaccinated but don’t have their card as proof they can go back to the health centre where it was done…the records are kept there and they can obtain a copy which would then allow them to get the international certificate of vaccination,” Dr. Persaud explained.
And it is the belief of the CMO that “more than 95 per cent of the population has already received the Yellow Fever vaccine, so there is no gap really in terms of adult immunisation”.
As such he noted that the main focus of the Ministry of Public Health is its infant immunisation programme.
“We are still continuing the children’s programme, that is paramount to make sure that all the babies by 12 months or so receive their Yellow Fever vaccine, because they need to be protected too, in the event they are exposed,” Dr. Persaud asserted.
Outbreaks of Yellow Fever have been reported in parts of Africa which resulted in a number of countries demanding that travellers from countries with conditions suitable for the disease be issued with an international Yellow Fever certificate of vaccination.
Guyana and all of its neighbouring territories (Suriname, Brazil and Venezuela) have been listed as territories that have the ideal conditions to transmit the disease.
The Yellow Fever Vaccine
But according to Dr. Persaud, the Public Health Ministry has been able to reach out to a number of countries demanding the travellers present their vaccination certificate, remove that requirement. And Dr. Persaud revealed that “Most of the countries we had the challenge with in the last couple of weeks have now removed the requirements. Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad, North America and most of the other parts of the Caribbean they don’t require the Yellow Fever travel certificate any longer. There are a few South American countries that are still demanding that the travel certificate be issued,” the CMO considered.
He noted that while there have been reports of Yellow Fever outbreaks in Brazil in the past, Brazil has not been imposing the travel certificate requirement as rigidly as Africa.
According to the World Health Organisation, “in the Region of the Americas, over the past decade, cases of yellow fever were reported in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela. In 2015, three countries in the Americas confirmed yellow fever virus circulation (Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru) and in 2016 only one country, Peru, confirmed cases of yellow fever. Brazil is currently investigating the occurrence of epizootics (among animals) in areas where the virus had circulated.”
Yellow Fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected Aedes type 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 fatigue. According to WHO, 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 was seen as 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.
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