HealthlineSubscribeYellowFeverMedicallyreviewedbyJosephVinetz,MD—WrittenbyColleenM.Story—UpdatedonFebruary26,2021SymptomsCausesRiskfactorsDiagnosisTreatmentsOutlookPreventionWhatisyellowfever?Yellowfeverisaserious,potentiallydeadlyflu-likediseasespreadbyAedesaegyptimosquitoes,whichalsotransmitdengueandZikaviruses.It’scharacterizedbyahighfeverandjaundice.Jaundiceisyellowingoftheskinandeyes,whichiswhythisdiseaseiscalledyellowfever.ThisdiseaseismostprevalentincertainpartsofAfricaandSouthAmerica.Itisn’tcurable,butyoucanpreventitwiththeyellowfevervaccine.RecognizingthesymptomsofyellowfeverYellowfeverdevelopsquickly,withsymptomsoccurring3to6daysafterexposure.Theinitialsymptomsoftheinfectionaresimilartothoseoftheinfluenzavirus.Theyinclude:headachesmuscleachesjointacheschillsfeverAcutephaseThisphaseusuallylastsfor3to4days.Commonsymptomsinclude:headachesmuscleachesjointachesafeverflushingalossofappetiteshiversbackachesAftertheacutephaseisover,symptomswillbegintogoaway.Manypeoplerecoverfromyellowfeveratthisstage,butsomepeoplewilldevelopamoreseriousversionofthiscondition.ToxicphaseThesymptomsthatyouexperiencedintheacutephasemaydisappearforupto24hours.Then,thosesymptomsmayreturn,alongwithnewandmoreserioussymptoms.Theseinclude:decreasedurinationabdominalpainvomiting(sometimeswithblood)heartrhythmproblemsseizuresdeliriumbleedingfromthenose,mouth,andeyesThisphaseofthediseaseisoftenfatal,butonly15percentofpeoplewithyellowfeverenterthisphase.Whatcausesyellowfever?Yellowfevervirus(orflavivirus)causesyellowfever,andit’stransmittedwhenaninfectedmosquitobitesyou.Mosquitoesbecomeinfectedwiththeviruswhentheybiteahumanormonkeywiththevirus.Thediseasecan’tbespreadfromonepersontoanother.Mosquitoesbreedintropicalrainforests,humid,andsemi-humidenvironments,aswellasaroundbodiesofstillwater.Increasedcontactbetweenhumansandinfectedmosquitoes,particularlyinareaswherepeoplehaven’tbeenvaccinatedforyellowfever,cancreatesmall-scaleepidemics.Whoisatriskforyellowfever?Thosewhohaven’tbeenvaccinatedforyell