GIS not checking travelers’ Yellow Fever vaccination cards despite outbreak

GIS not checking travelers’ Yellow Fever vaccination cards despite outbreak

November 26, 2011, 11:30 pm

It has a high fatality rate, yet it has no cure. In endemic countries of South and sub-saharan Africa, it is difficult to be welcomed as a traveller without the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended vaccination card proving that one has been vaccinated against the deadly yellow fever virus. The conditions are even stricter in Europe and the Americas. Since the reported outbreak of yellow fever in four districts of northern Ghana about a fortnight ago, the Ghana Health Service has been working round the clock to deal with the situation especially following a recorded death last week in the Sawla Kalba District of the Northern Region. According to Dr. Badu Sarkodie of the Ghana Health Service, the GHS has received notice of other probable cases but those cases are yet to be confirmed, hence the need for individuals to protect themselves in the face of the yellow fever outbreak. But, as Ghana battles yet another yellow fever outbreak after a lull, the country’s Immigration Service appears not to be doing much to forestall a further spread of the virus especially from travelers who may be infected. Since Africa falls within the yellow fever endemic zone, most countries on the continent like South Africa, Ethiopia, Cote D’Ivoire and Chad religiously look out for the yellow fever vaccination cards of travelers before allowing them entry into their respective countries but, the Ghana Immigration Service is yet to step up its checks on the vaccination cards at the points of entry into the country – even in the wake of an outbreak. In an interview with Multi TV’s Joy News Channel, Head of the Public Affairs Unit at the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), Assistant Comptroller of Immigration, Francis Palmdeti, said his outfit has not been formally instructed by the Ministry of Health to carry out such checks. He explained to Etornam Tsormey Sey of the news team that even if the Immigration Service proactively checked travelers for their vaccination cards before granting them entry permits, there is no quarantine facility in place to control the outbreak. At present, the GHS has embarked on a free national immunization exercise in 43 districts which will end next Monday. Hundreds of people are thus queuing at public health centres to be vaccinated. When the Multi TV news team visited the Ridge Hospital on the fifth day of the national reactive and preventive mass vaccination campaign, the Hospital had vaccinated 6,352 people. Even though majority of people waiting in queues appeared frightened to be poked by the needle, the fright of death was more overpowering. The potentially fatal tropical viral infection is transmitted through a bite from the female aedes mosquito after biting a monkey (which serves as the host for the virus) or an infected migrant. Health officials thus reckon it is dangerous to keep monkeys since they serve as reservoirs for a lot of viruses including the yellow fever virus. Ghana has been recording cases of yellow fever almost on an annual basis with periodic outbreaks in some districts. In the mid 1970s, Ghana recorded huge numbers of yellow fever cases and it is not surprising that it was declared the third yellow fever endemic country in the world. The ongoing preventive exercise is targeted at persons aged ten years and above excluding pregnant women, people allergic to eggs, cancer patients and persons living with HIV/AIDS. In areas where cases have already been recorded however, children aged one year and above will be vaccinated. The vaccine however is not recommended for children under 6 months and it is contra-indicative for babies under four months. It is given together with measles injection at nine months because when given earlier, the disease risk outweighs the benefits. Painting the gloomy picture at hand, the GHS has stated that one out of two persons may die if infected with the disease. In an explosive outbreak, the fatality rate is over 60% whereas about 80% of cases are mild in sporadic situations. Symptoms usually begin to manifest between 3 to 6 days after being bitten by the vector and includes simple ones as headache, muscle and joint aches, fever, nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting and jaundice with severe ones manifesting as hepatitis and hemorrhagic fever. A person with advanced yellow fever may show signs of liver failure, renal failure, and shock. The Ghana Health Service has indicated that yellow fever will be very difficult to eliminate because of the way it is transmitted. Intervals between vaccinations are normally ten years and the shot cannot be taken twice. The public is thus advised to keep track of when they got the injection and go for a booster ten years after that. The vaccination is free. Travellers from Ghana to other parts of the world must remember that they can only do so ten days after the vaccination because it takes that number of days for the drug to work. http://edition.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201111/77188.php