Colombia: Yellow fever death reported in Tolima department
In Tolima department, located in the Andean region, in the center-west of Colombia, officials have reported the first fatal victim of yellow fever was reported in the department.
The case, a 47-year-old man, was registered in a rural area of the municipality of Villarrica, in the Alto Puerto Lleras sector.
“We have been informed that the patient's symptoms are associated with yellow fever and then after the autopsy process it was confirmed that it is due to this disease. Now, personnel from the Departmental Health Secretariat are in the area carrying out the vaccination process and verifying symptoms among the residents of the region. No new cases have been confirmed,” mayor of the municipality, Javier Montilla said.
For its part, the Ministry of Health has activated a contingency plan together with the Ministry of Health, the National Institute of Health (INS) and local authorities, to seek to protect the population and prevent the spread of the virus to other areas.
It is also essential that people take preventive measures, such as using insect repellent, covering their skin with appropriate clothing and eliminating potential mosquito breeding sites, such as containers with stagnant water in their homes.
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever.
Symptoms of yellow fever (fever, chills, headache, backache, and muscle aches) develop 3-6 days after infection. About 15% of people infected with yellow fever virus will develop severe illness that can lead to liver disease, bleeding, shock, organ failure, yellowing skin (jaundice), and sometimes death.
Diagnosis is based on symptoms and laboratory testing. Yellow fever virus spreads through the bites of infected mosquitoes.
Yellow fever vaccine is the best protection against this disease.