Advanced age a risk factor for illness temporally associated with yellow fever vaccination.
In 1998, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was notified of severe illnesses and one death, temporally associated with yellow fever (YF) vaccination, in two elderly U.S. residents. Because the cases were unusual and adverse events following YF vaccination had not been studied, we estimated age-related reporting rates for systemic illness following YF vaccination. We found that the rate of reported adverse events among elderly vaccinees was higher than among vaccinees 25 to 44 years of age. We also found two additional deaths among elderly YF vaccinees. These data signal a potential problem but are not sufficient to reliably estimate incidence rates or to understand potential underlying mechanisms; therefore, enhanced surveillance is needed. YF remains an important cause of severe illness and death, and travel to disease-endemic regions is increasing. For elderly travelers, the risk for severe illness and death due to YF infection should be balanced against the risk for systemic illness due to YF vaccine.
Martin
Michael
M
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.|Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Weld
Leisa H
LH
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Tsai
Theodore F
TF
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Mootrey
Gina T
GT
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Chen
Robert T
RT
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Niu
Manette
M
Center for Biologic Evaluation, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, Maryland, USA.
Cetron
Martin S
MS
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States; D014611:Vaccination / Q000009:adverse effects; D022341:Yellow Fever Vaccine / Q000009:adverse effects*
D022341:Yellow Fever Vaccine