Infectious diseases >>>> Yellow fever
Yellow fever.
Yellow fever is an infectious vector-borne disease of viral origin, endemic to tropical regions of Africa and South America. The causative agent of the disease is the yellow fever virus - arbovirus (carried by arthropods) Viscerophilus tropicus, which is resistant to freezing and drying, but dies at a temperature of 60 in Celsius, when treated with chlorine-containing disinfectants, ultraviolet light. The virus enters the human body when bitten by a mosquito-carrier.
The incubation period of the disease can last from 3 to 10 days, but more often it takes up to six days. Yellow fever begins acutely and has several degrees of severity, depending on which stage-by-stage different symptoms of the disease appear. The initial phase of the disease is manifested by chills, high fever up to 41 in Celsius, headache, nausea and vomiting, myalgic pain in the back and limbs. The face and neck of the sick person acquire puffiness, the skin becomes hyperemic (reddens).
Further, the course of the disease can develop in two ways: improving health after a few days or the onset of remission, followed by a more severe stage of the disease, in which the virus causes toxic damage to the liver and blood vessels, which is manifested by yellowing of the skin and sclera due to the development of hepatitis and hemorrhagic skin rashes. The patient's condition may be complicated by hepatic or renal failure. The daily production of urine decreases, hypotension develops. The lethal outcome of the disease assumes its lightning-fast development and reaches from 5 to 20%, and during epidemics up to 60% of the total number of cases. People who survived the disease acquire lifelong immunity against the virus.
Treatment for yellow fever is symptomatic: maintaining water and electrolyte balance, lowering temperature, preventing heavy bleeding. When diagnosing, diseases with similar symptoms are differentiated: Dengue fever, malaria, hepatitis A, B, D, leptospirosis and poisoning. Due to the lack of specific drugs for the treatment of the disease, prevention of yellow fever is recommended.
Read
Read
