Yellow Fever 101: Why Am I Getting this Shot?

by Adrienne Wilson on

I’m going to be honest with you – when I went in for my vaccination for Typhoid fever I didn’t bother to really read about what Typhoid fever was or why I should be getting the shot. My local Health Department could have injected anything into me on that day. All I knew was I wanted to go to Thailand and would take any and every shot needed and recommended for my safety. So I guess you can say I’m not completely ignorant. I mean, I know Typhoid fever, like any fever isn’t something you want to bring back from vacation.
Well today I sing a different tune. The lyrics are along the lines of something like this: “Oh, joy! I’m going to Tajikistan in about a month, but they won’t let me in without spending $84 bucks on a yellow fever shot – shucks! Oh – Why do I need this shot? (repeat3x)” The point I’m making is how many of us read about these vaccinations and know what they are? The CDC says we have to have them and we go stick out our arm for the needle, but how much investigation do we place into these deadly diseases?

Strangely enough the CDC actually says Yellow Fever isn’t something required for entry into Tajikistan, yet in order for me to get my visa I have to have the certificate. So this brings me to the question, what is yellow fever? Yellow fever is a disease that is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes. Illness ranges in severity from an influenza-like syndrome to severe hepatitis and hemorrhagic fever. Several occurrences take place after travel in certain countries in Africa and South America. If you want to know the 101 on Yellow Fever check out the CDC or tinymosquito.com for easy to understand information.

No Detaining Sick Fliers

by Adrienne Wilson on

Imagine you’re walking through the airport security screening; shoes off, hat off, belt off, laptop visible, all
pocket changed removed, when your allergies suddenly begin to act up and you sneeze while passing through. An airport
siren starts to sound off, TSA dropkicks you, pins you down to the ground and a representative of the CDC comes running
from who knows where to probe you with a thermometer. Your temperature is slightly over normal body temps and next thing
you know your flight to Paris is departing without you. You’ve been quarantined to help prevent the spread of an avian flu pandemic. Luckily things haven’t gotten to the point where people have
to worry about scenarios like the one described above at the airport and thank goodness the plans to detain sick
passengers on planes have come to a pause.

According to this USA Today piece many are opposed
to plans of detaining sick airline
and cruise ship passengers, noting that amount of information needed from each passenger would be a violation of
passengers’ rights. Aside from our very valuable personal information being placed in some scary government database
critics say the plan is quite costly and difficult. Under the CDC’s plan to quarantine passengers he following would
take place:

  • Government could detain passengers for up to three days without proof that they
    were sick.
  • Airlines would store passenger and travel companion information in databases.
  • Flight and ship crews with little medical training would be responsible for identifying potentially sick people.
  • Other passengers will be notified that they had been exposed.

As good as the
CDC’s intentions are in keeping all the frequent and non-frequent fliers from falling ill, I too think I’m opposed to
the plan. They’ll have to come up with a plan a smidge better than this.