The Yilo Krobo Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Ebenezer Tetteh Kupuolor who launched the Yellow Fever vaccination campaign in the Eastern Region pleaded that he should be the first to be vaccinated to help motivate people in his Municipal to support the vaccination.
The gesture was to help clear doubts among the people and to assure them that the vaccination is safe. Mr Kupualor said his Municipality was among the high risk areas in the Eastern Region and therefore appealed to traditional leaders, religious leaders and opinion leaders in the Municipality to help make the vaccination campaign a success.
Dr Mrs Alberta Britwum-Nyarko, the Eastern Regional Director of Health Services, said between 20 to 50 per cent of people who become infected with yellow fever died within 10 days if they did not get support.
She said Ghana was among the African countries at risk with yellow fever infection hence, the need for mass vaccination to help prevent the spread of the disease in the country. Dr Britwum-Nyarko said yellow fever was caused by mosquito bites and it had the same symptoms like malaria and the infected had fever, headache, muscle pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and yellow eyes.
Mrs Britwum-Nyarko advised people to sleep under treated mosquito nets in order not to be infected with yellow fever. She stated that though there was no cure for yellow fever, it could be prevented through vaccination.
Mrs Britwum-Nyarko said everyone between 10 to 60 years could get vaccinated except pregnant women, persons allergic to eggs and people with reduced immunity such as cancer and HIV/Aids patients.
Dr Albert Antobre- Boateng, the Deputy Eastern Regional Director of Health Service, said in 2016, 26 suspected yellow fever cases were recorded in the Eastern Region. He said in 2017, 17 yellow fever cases were suspected in the Region and this year, as at June three suspected cases has been recorded.