Yellow Fever Outbreaks In Brazil

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Yellow Fever Outbreaks in Brazil
Yellow Fever is a disease that is transmitted by infected mosquitos from person to person that is typically found in tropical and subtropical areas such as South America and Africa. Currently in Brazil, a Yellow Fever outbreak is one of the worst the country has ever seen. The disease is spreading rapidly in large cities such as Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. This rapid spread of Yellow Fever is threatening to become Brazil’s first epidemic since 1942. In order to prevent this epidemic, health officials are attempting to vaccinate 95 percent of the population in 77 cities across Brazil that are at risk for the spread of Yellow Fever, totaling approximately 23 million people.
However, anti-vaccine activists began to spread rumors that the vaccine was not effective and that the vaccine would kill them, decreasing the number of people receiving the vaccine. Nancy Bastos, who is the health and sanitation director of northern Sao Paulo said, “When people stopped coming to us to receive the vaccination, we started going to them.” Nurses and health officials began loading up coolers full of the vaccines and going door to door, even stopping at bars and gyms in order to vaccinate citizens of Brazil and to alleviate any …show more content…

However, authorities claim it actually hindered their ability to track the virus, as monkey deaths indicate the direction the disease is moving. Dr. Sylvain Aldighieri, the chief of epidemic response for the Pan American Health Organization, claims that “The virus for Yellow Fever is spreading more than a mile per day, and this is now a race between virus and vaccinators.” This year’s Yellow Fever cases are already 26 percent higher than they were this time last year, and is expected to increase with more hot and rainy months

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