Yellow Fever Research Paper

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A Yellow Eye Opener “The last epidemic of Yellow Fever in North America occurred in New Orleans in 1905,” yet hundreds are dying over a century later in the African country of Uganda (“Yellow” 2). Why is it that although the often-fatal disease was eradicated so long ago in North America, it still plagues the people of Uganda? Yellow Fever, “an acute infectious disease,” transmitted through infected mosquitoes, is fatal roughly fifteen percent of the time (Day 48). The Yellow Fever epidemic of Uganda unnecessarily claimed the lives of hundreds due to the inexcusable indifference and refusal of prosperous nations to contribute vital vaccines to the dying. Despite the fact that there is a successful vaccine used to prevent Yellow Fever, the …show more content…
It is imperative that “technology transfer and sustainable funding for local production of important vaccines in… developing countries… be made available” (Wilde 176). While the technology to eradicate Yellow Fever exists, the technology is only used in wealthier, more developed countries. Due to a lack of available technology, Uganda is unable to produce the vaccines required to inhibit such wide scale outbreaks from occurring. Furthermore, it is proven that widespread vaccine use greatly decreases Yellow Fever fatalities. For example, “a 2014 study published in PLOS Medicine, an academic medical journal, reported that large-scale yellow fever vaccination campaigns reduced the number of Yellow Fever cases and deaths… by twenty-seven percent” (“Yellow” 16). Moreover, medical officials report that “due to the success of the [Yellow Fever] vaccine, Yellow Fever has been less of a problem in recent years than Malaria” (Day 48). Such astounding results demonstrate that through persistent use of vaccines, Yellow Fever outbreaks can be avoided in the future. However, an effort must continue to be made so that Uganda can follow in North America’s Yellow Fever-free