Has anyone had any bad side affects from the yellow fever vaccine and also can it be dangerous to take the vaccine.

No side effects with me other than a sore shoulder at the injection site for a couple of days. Beats getting Yellow Fever!

John

No problems for me but the precautions statement is frightening... "possible death".

Brett

Just had injection a few weeks ago with no problems. The site was only slightly sore for a day.

No problems.

precautions possible death,what the hell is that..........

Hello capebuf

I had my yellow fever vaccination 4 years ago and had no side effects. Severe side effects are very rare and the benefits far outweigh the risks.

The following is from the CDC site.

Regards
Aziz

Who Should Not Receive the Yellow Fever Vaccine?
Yellow fever vaccine generally has few side effects; fewer than 5% of vaccinees develop mild headache, muscle pain, or other minor symptoms 5 to 10 days after vaccination. Under almost all circumstances, there are four groups of people who should not receive the vaccine unless the risk of yellow fever disease exceeds the small risk associated with the vaccine. These people should obtain either a waiver letter prior to travel or delay travel to an area with active yellow fever transmission:
• Yellow fever vaccine should never be given to infants under 6 months of age due to a risk of viral encephalitis developing in the child. In most cases, vaccination should be deferred until the child is 9 to 12 months of age.
• Pregnant women should not be vaccinated because of a theoretical risk that the developing fetus may become infected from the vaccine.
• Persons hypersensitive to eggs should not receive the vaccine because it is prepared in embryonated eggs. If vaccination of a traveler with a questionable history of egg hypersensitivity is considered essential, an intradermal test dose may be administered under close medical supervision. (Notify your doctor prior to vaccination if you think that you may be allergic to the vaccine or to egg products.)
• Persons with an immunosuppressed condition associated with AIDS or HIV infection, or those whose immune system has been altered by either diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma or through drugs and radiation should not receive the vaccine. People with asymptomatic HIV infection may be vaccinated if exposure to yellow fever cannot be avoided.
If you have one of these conditions, your doctor will be able to help you decide whether you should be vaccinated, delay your travel, or obtain a waiver. In all cases, the decision to immunize an infant between 6 and 9 months of age, a pregnant woman, or an immunocompromised patient should be made on an individual basis. The physician should weigh the risks of exposure and contracting the disease against the risks of immunization, and possibly consider alternative means of protection.



Rare Side effects

Q. What were the clinical manifestations of the rare but severe illness recently reported in recipients of yellow fever vaccine?
A. The seven persons who were reported with severe multisystemic illness after yellow fever vaccination exhibited the following:
Onset: Within 5 days after yellow fever vaccination.
Symptoms, signs, laboratory findings: Fever, lymphocytopenia, thrombocytopenia, mild to moderate elevation of hepatocellular enzymes, hypotension, and respiratory failure occurred in all patients. Most of the patients also had headache, confusion, vomiting, myalgias, renal failure requiring hemodialysis, hyperbilirubinemia, and severe metabolic acidosis.
Q. Have these reports changed the indications or contraindications for yellow fever vaccination that are reported in the 2002 Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP) recommendations?
A. No. Severe illnesses following yellow fever vaccination are rare. By contrast, in Africa and South America, the World Health Organization estimates that 200,000 cases of yellow fever occur each year. During the same period when five post-vaccination severe illnesses were reported in travelers, four unvaccinated European and American travelers died of yellow fever following travel to South America and West Africa.
People traveling to areas where yellow fever occurs should still be vaccinated. However, yellow fever vaccine should only be considered for persons without contraindications who are traveling to areas of yellow fever risk within Africa and South America. For further recommendations, please review the detailed information provided on the CDC Summary of Health Information for International Travel and CDC Yellow Fever Disease and Vaccine Information Web sites.
Q. If there are no changes in the recommendations, what effect will these recent reports have?
A. The potential association between yellow fever vaccine and subsequent severe multisystemic illness has initiated further investigation.
Healthcare providers are encouraged to report cases of febrile illness potentially caused by yellow fever vaccination to the CDC/FDA Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) by one of the following methods:
1. Submitting a report online at https://secure.vaers.org/VaersDataEntryintro.htm
2. Printing a VAERS Form (23K) and faxing or mailing it using information at http://www.vaers.org/contact.htm
3. Calling 1-800-822-7967
Persons who develop a fever
• >38.5°C (101.3°F) lasting at least 24 hours and
• occurring within 30 days of yellow fever vaccination
will be prioritized by VAERS for further evaluation.
Note: Because local healthcare providers need to be involved in the evaluation, reports cannot be accepted directly from individual patients.
Q. Are different brands of the yellow fever vaccine safer than others?
A. To date, there is no evidence that the two available types of yellow fever vaccine (17D-204 and 17DD strains) differ in their safety profiles. Rare systemic reactions have been reported following receipt of each vaccine strain.
Q. If a patient develops fever or other illness after receiving yellow fever vaccine, what steps should be taken?
A. If a person develops an acute febrile illness after receiving yellow fever vaccine, he/she should be evaluated by a healthcare provider and treated for other potential causes.
If no other diagnosis is clearly present, healthcare providers are encouraged to report cases of febrile illness potentially caused by yellow fever vaccination to the CDC/FDA Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) by one of the following methods:

I felt puny for a day or two, but it's hard to say if it was yellow fever.

The Dr popped us with Hep-A, yellow Fever, meningitis, and polio. Now we have to take our Typhoid pills every other day for a week. (Apparently they were out of the Typhoid pills last time and we got a typhoid shot which is temporary.)

Typical local site inflammation and soreness on my part plus a pretty good headache. I did also get a typhoid and polio immunization several weeks after and Hepatiis A . As with most immunizations I take, flu, etc., I have found if I will take l as for fever, I have very few side effects due to the immunizations. I hate shots! but well worth the prevention! drwes

Got yellow fever, Hep A, tetanus, and typhoid all at the same time last week, 2 in each arm.

No side effects at all other than a sore right arm for an afternoon.

And I was all primed to have to go home sick from work...

Some how the shot must have effected my brain. What I was trying to post hurriedly, if I take Advil like I do with a fever I have fewer side effects from any of the immunizations,,sorry, drwes

I'm getting my shots next week, but I don't believe they mentioned getting a yellow fever shot. I'm scheduled for Hep. A, Polio, and Typhoid. Had my tetanus shot a month or so ago. This is for a safari in RSA.

I want to say that risks is higher for those over 60, like me, which made me rethink taking it. Then my brother took it (also over 60) and had no adverse side effects. I concluded that if he could, I could. I had no significant problems. Kudude

I had one a few years ago. It was required to get into Burkina Faso. Anyway, I had no pain and no side effects.

I had a bit of inflamation at the point of injection and a low fever and headache for two days.

I've had far worse self inflicted hangovers.

No problems. I don't suppose we'll hear from the ones that died from the vaccine.

The USAF has given me the shot a few times. Its usually stings pretty good and I feel like crap for a few hours. When I was younger, we used to hit the club soon after getting the shot because it seemed like you could get drunk much easier/cheaper.

I have been sending hunters to Tanzania for many years and none of them had any reaction to Yellow Fever shots.

A couple have reacted to both forms of Malaria pros, but again that is better than contacting Malaria, and it wasn't very serious in any of the cases.

Damn, Ray, long time no see. Good to have you back.

I got a yellow fever vaccine years ago for some sort of military excursion, probably to Korea, but who knows? Unlike the luckier chaps posting above, I was sick for the next two days, and I don't mean maybe! Admittedly, it was far better than catching yellow fever, but if I decide to go to Central Africa and need it again, I'll get in on Friday so I can spend the weekend in bed. It was miserable!