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CDC Health Information for International Travel 2008

Travel Health Precaution
Reported Rare Adverse Events, Yellow Fever Vaccine
This information is current as of today, January 14, 2009 at 17:43

Updated: July 15, 2005

Several severe adverse events following yellow fever vaccination were reported in the July 14, 2001, issue of The Lancet. In that issue, seven cases of severe illness were reported among yellow fever vaccine recipients in the United States and two other countries; the illness was characterized by fever and multisystem organ failure occurring 2 to 5 days after vaccination. The four cases reported from the United States were identified in a review of adverse events reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System from 1990-1998. During this period, 1.6 million doses of yellow fever vaccine were sold for civilian use. Therefore, the reported frequency of yellow fever adverse events in the United States is presumed to be quite rare and on the order of 1 per 400,000 doses.

Yellow fever occurs year round in many predominately rural parts of sub-Saharan Africa and South America and can cause serious illness and death in people who have not been vaccinated. In recent years, outbreaks have been increasing and today there is evidence of yellow fever activity near major population centers in countries where the disease is endemic.

The yellow fever vaccine has been in use for more than 60 years, helping to prevent yellow fever and control outbreaks. In the last 5 years, two U.S. and two European travelers who did not receive yellow fever vaccine contracted the disease following travel to South America and Africa. Given the known risk of serious illness and death due to yellow fever, the evidence of increasing transmission of the disease, and the effectiveness of the yellow fever vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stresses the importance of continued use of yellow fever vaccine to protect travelers and control outbreaks. Travel itineraries should be scrutinized carefully to ensure that only people traveling to yellow fever endemic areas or areas where there is reported yellow fever activity receive yellow fever vaccine.

CDC, in collaboration with the World Health Organization and Pan American Health Organization, has enhanced surveillance for adverse events following yellow fever vaccine administration.

For more information on yellow fever and yellow fever vaccine, please see the following:

  • Page last reviewed:
  • Page last updated: July 15, 2005
  • Content source:
    Division of Global Migration and Quarantine
    National Center for Preparedness, Detection, and Control of Infectious Diseases
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