South Sudan and WHO launch yellow fever vaccination campaign in case of epidemic

South Sudan, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), launched the largest ever yellow fever vaccination campaign after an epidemic last November.

The outbreak was declared on 29 November 2019 after three laboratories confirmed the presence of the virus.

The Ministry of Health and WHO hope to vaccinate more than 8.3 million people aged 9 months to 60 years against the deadly yellow fever virus.

Yellow fever is a viral disease transmitted by certain types of mosquitoes whose symptoms range from fever to headaches, jaundice, vomiting and nausea. The incubation period of the virus is usually 3 to 6 days after the infection. Although most people do not show symptoms, these are very serious when they occur. The disease can however be prevented by a single dose of a highly effective and safe vaccine.

According to a WHO report, South Sudan is at high risk due to the combination of climatic and ecological factors and the fact that there are still areas with low immunity of the population.

This vaccination campaign is the third and final campaign that is an essential part of Southern Sudan's work to protect everyone from yellow fever epidemics, in line with WHO's strategy of Eliminating the Yellow Fever Epidemic (EYE). ).

According to a statement released by Dr. Olushayo Olu, WHO Representative for South Sudan, part of the EYE strategy was to eliminate yellow fever by 2026.

"This will protect high-risk populations from the yellow fever virus in the short term and will serve as a gateway to the introduction of the yellow fever vaccine into the long-term routine immunization system," said Olu .

The last yellow fever outbreak in South Sudan was in May 2003, when 178 people were infected and 27 died.