Yellow fever is a mosquito-borne disease that causes serious illness. It occurs in the tropics, but you can protect yourself from infection with the virus that causes yellow fever with an effective vaccine called Stamaril, and also by avoiding mosquito bites.
When you arrive in some countries, whether by air, over land or by sea, you may need to prove that you’ve had the yellow fever shot. Border and port officials may ask you to show an international certificate of vaccination against yellow fever. If you don’t have the relevant paperwork to prove you are vaccinated against yellow fever, you may be turned back, delaying your journey.
Let us tell you all about protecting yourself from yellow fever, and how you can ensure you have all the paperwork you need to prove your yellow fever vaccination status.
Do I need to get vaccinated against yellow fever for my trip abroad?
It can be difficult to work out whether you need a yellow fever International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis. Border requirements may change at short notice. So it’s best to get expert advice when planning your trip abroad, particularly if you are not sure whether you need a yellow fever certificate.
Where do I get a yellow fever certificate from?
When you get the yellow fever vaccine, you will be given an International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis to show that you’ve been protected from yellow fever. You can only get this vaccine and certificate at a designated yellow fever vaccination center, though. Our San Diego travel clinic is a CDC designated yellow fever vaccination center.
Countries that have a risk of yellow fever
Yellow fever is a risk in sub-Saharan Africa and South America. If your travel plans include places such as Brazil, Ecuador or Peru, or Senegal, Liberia, Nigeria or Gambia, it’s likely that the travel health adviser will recommend a yellow fever shot.
How can I save money on my yellow fever shot?
The yellow fever shot provides life-long protection. So once you have been vaccinated against yellow fever, as long as you don’t lose your certificate, you will never need to get this shot again.
Can you replace my yellow fever certificate?
If you’ve lost your yellow fever certificate, let us know and we can tell you what you should do.
What are the side effects of the yellow fever vaccine?
The Stamaril shot may leave you feeling a bit unwell with a fever, joint pains, headache and nausea.
Avoiding mosquito bites
It’s important to practice mosquito bite avoidance to complete your protection against yellow fever.
As well as yellow fever, mosquitoes also carry other diseases which are not vaccine preventable. You can learn more in our article about how to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes and other bugs while traveling. At your travel health appointment with Global Travel Clinics, you can get verbal advice about avoiding mosquito bites, too.
What are the symptoms of yellow fever?
If you’ve recently returned from abroad and you’re unwell, particularly with a feverish illness, it’s best to seek medical advice.
The symptoms of yellow fever include fever, headache, muscle pain – particularly backache – and loss of appetite, sometimes with nausea and vomiting. Some people infected with yellow fever will become seriously ill and half of those patients will die within ten days.
It’s really important to get medical advice if you think you’ve got yellow fever as it can be fatal.
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