The primary nursing care of individuals with yellow fever is
supportive care. The goal is to provide symptomatic relief or life-saving interventions.
According to UpToDate, “supportive care should
include maintenance of nutrition, prevention of hypoglycemia, nasogastric
suction to prevent gastric distention and aspiration, treatment of hypotension
by fluid replacement and vasoactive drugs if necessary, administration of
oxygen, management of metabolic acidosis, treatment of bleeding with
fresh-frozen plasma, dialysis if indicated by renal failure, and treatment of
secondary infections.”
Other important parts of supportive care include:
- Monitoring for fever, dehydration, pain, bleeding, restlessness, and other infections such as malaria or a bacterial infection
- Administering fluids, analgesics, and antipyretics
- Encouraging rest
- Treating the patient’s clinical signs with available drugs and therapies
Recommended drugs or therapies for treating
yellow fever and concurrent infections
| |
| For fever | Give paracetamol |
| For dehydration | Give oral rehydration salts |
| For restlessness | Give diazepam |
| For malaria | Give an antimalarial recommended for your area |
| For bacterial infections | Give anti-bacterials recommended for your area |
During this time, it would also be important for the nurse to:
- Question patients with suspicious symptoms about recent travel
- Report yellow fever to the Public Health Department
Resources
Gershman, M. D., Staples, J. E. (2013). CDC health
information for International travel – yellow fever. Retrieved from
Monath, T. P. (2015). Yellow fever. UpToDate. Retrieved from http://www.uptodate.com/contents/yellow-fever
Sheff, B. (2005). Microbe of the month: Yellow
fever. Nursing, 35(7), 75.
World Health Organization. (n.d.). District guidelines for
yellow fever surveillance. Retrieved from: http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/yellowfev/whoepigen9809.pdf
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