Saturday, May 2, 2015

Flu Symptoms and Yellow Skin? Maybe it's Yellow Fever

As mentioned in the pathophysiology post, Yellow fever has 3 stages:
Stage 1: the infection stage
Symptoms include: headache, muscle and joint aches, fever, flushing, loss of appetite, vomiting, and jaundice. These acute symptoms often go away after about 3-4 days.



Stage 2: the remission stage
Signs include the disappearance of fever and other symptoms. Most people get better at this stage, but there are some that get worse within 24 hours.      
Stage 3: the intoxication phase

If a patient gets to this stage, signs include problems with many organs- including the heart, liver, and kidneys. Other symptoms include bleeding disorders, seizures, coma, and delirium. You often see return of acute signs and symptoms in these patients in addition to more severe and life-threatening symptoms.

Majority of people infected with the yellow fever virus actually show no signs and symptoms or only experience mild illness.  About 15% of cases progress into more serious phase of the disease.

References:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Yellow fever. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/yellowfever/symptoms/


Medline Plus. (2015). Yellow fever. Retrieved from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001365.htm





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