Brazil is suffering its worst outbreak of yellow fever in decades and is now circling the megacities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, threatening to become this country’s first-blown urban epidemic since 1942.
March 6th, 2018- The virus kills 3 percent to 8 percent of those who are infected
- There have been 237 deaths since the hot season began
- The fatality rate will explode if the virus reaches the slums and the clouds of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes swarming there.
- Health officials are struggling to vaccinate 23 million people.
- “…..The vaccine….is highly effective — one dose normally provides lifetime protection. But it is not harmless. It cannot be given to newborns or anyone with a compromised immune system. It is given to people older than 60, pregnant women, or children younger than 8 months only when the risk of infection is high.
About one recipient in 100,000 suffers a dangerous reaction like jaundice, hepatitis or encephalitis, Dr. Marques said, and about one in a million dies…..”
