A confirmed case of yellow fever constitutes an outbreak and standard outbreak response measures are instituted to prevent spread of the disease. Yellow fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes. Its symptoms include fever, headache, jaundice, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting and fatigue.
Targeting close to 700,000 people in the three districts, the campaign was formally launched by the Minister of Health Dr Elioda Tumwesigye accompanied by the WHO Representative Dr Wondimagegnehu Alemu and the Director General of Health Services Dr Jane Ruth Aceng. All people aged 6 months and above were targeted for vaccination free of charge.
According to WHO, vaccination is the most important means of preventing yellow fever. The organization recommends vaccination of most (80 % or more) of the population at risk to prevent transmission in an outbreak area. The Yellow Fever vaccine is extremely effective, safe and affordable. A single dose of yellow fever vaccine gives life-long protection and a booster dose of the vaccine is not needed.
Masaka district was the first to confirm the outbreak on April 8th and since then the Ministry of Health, WHO and partners instituted response measures including provision of supportive and prompt treatment, strengthened surveillance, creation of public awareness, mapping of mosquito vectors in the three districts and carried out an epidemiological assessment to identify other high risk districts.
It is on top of the above measures that a four-day mass vaccination campaign was implemented with the objective of reaching at least 90% of the targeted population to interrupt transmission. Therefore, Dr Tumwesigye appealed to the population in other districts “not to flock to the affected districts and to give a chance to the people of Masaka, Rukungiri and Kalangala to get vaccinated because they are the population most at risk”.
To ensure that the population is fully protected, public health specialists now recommend inclusion of the yellow fever vaccine into the routine immunization programme. It is for that reason that in his address, Dr Alemu urged the government of Uganda “to introduce Yellow fever vaccination in the routine immunization schedule at least in the high risk areas”. He also commended Uganda’s highly sensitive surveillance system that was able to detect the outbreak in record time.
According to the Dr Aceng, currently there are 39 suspected and 1 confirmed case in Masaka; 7 suspected and 1 confirmed in Rukungiri; and 7 suspected and 1 confirmed case in Kalangala. “All confirmed cases were handled in isolation facilities and there is no human to human transmission of the diseases so far”, she said. She also reported intensified education of population about yellow fever especially those who go are leave near forests.