Yellow Fever Vaccine and Recent Reports of Associated Severe Illness

Recent reports (see References) documented seven patients between 1996 and 2001 who developed severe illness following receipt of yellow fever vaccine (17D-204 or 17DD strains). Although reported in a very small proportion of approximately 300 million worldwide yellow fever vaccine recipients, this association warrants further investigation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are enhancing preexisting surveillance for yellow fever vaccine adverse events with special laboratory support.

Healthcare providers are encouraged to report cases of febrile illness potentially caused by yellow fever vaccination to the CDC/FDA Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) by one of the following methods:

1. Submitting a report online at https://secure.vaers.org/VaersDataEntryintro.htm
   
2. Printing a VAERS Form (23K) and faxing or mailing it using information at http://www.vaers.org/contact.htm
3. Calling 1-800-822-7967

Persons who develop a fever

• >38.5°C (101.3°F) lasting at least 24 hours and
• occurring within 30 days of yellow fever vaccination

will be prioritized by VAERS for further evaluation.

Note: Because local healthcare providers need to be involved in the evaluation, reports cannot be accepted directly from individual patients.

References

	Chan RC, Penney DJ, Little D, et al. Hepatitis and death following vaccination with 17D-204 yellow fever vaccine. Lancet 2001;358:121-2.
	Martin M, Tsai TF, Cropp B, Chang GJ, et al. Fever and multisystem organ failure associated with 17D-204 yellow fever vaccination: a report of four cases. Lancet 2001;358:98-104.
	Vasconcelos PF, Luna EJ, Galler R, et al. Serious adverse events associated with yellow fever 17DD vaccine in Brazil: a report of two cases. Lancet 2001;358:91-7.
	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Notice to readers: Fever, jaundice, and multiple organ system failure associated with 17D-derived yellow fever vaccination, 1996–2001. MMWR 2001;50:343-5. (Also available in PDF format [141 KB])

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