TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessment of the yellow fever outbreak in Angola from December 2015 through December 2016
T2 - A retrospective study
AU - Manuel, Eusebio
AU - Armando, António
AU - Francisco, Moisés
AU - Paixão, Joana
AU - Aramburu, Javier
AU - de Oliveira, Miguel dos Santos
AU - Freitas, Helga
AU - Pedro, Alda Morais
AU - Jandondo, Domingos
AU - Carderon, Pablo Babrero
AU - Lamezon, Sandra Lopez
AU - Fortes, Filomeno
AU - Mariscal, Jorge
AU - Cardoso, Yolanda
AU - Moreira, Rosa
AU - Morais, Joana F.M.
AU - Francisco, Ngiambudulu M.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank technicians, Clinicians, and staff members from the Instituto Nacional de Investigação em Saúde (INIS), Direcção Nacional de Saúde Pública (DNSP), World Health Organization (WHO), and Médecins Sans Frontières for their technical support and assistance. Orçamento Geral de Estado (State General Budget) 2022 was allocated to the National Institute for Health Research (INIS) through the Ministry of Health, Angola. The funding agency was not involved in the design of the study, the gathering, analysis, and interpretation of the data, the writing of the manuscript, or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors. Health Science Reports published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
PY - 2024/1
Y1 - 2024/1
N2 - Background and Aims: The acute tropical infectious disease known as yellow fever (YF) is caused by an arbovirus and is characterized by fever, jaundice, hemorrhage, headache, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. Angola experienced a yellow fever virus (YFV) outbreak that was documented in December 2015. However, little is known about the outcome of this outbreak. We aimed to demonstrate epidemic features and lessons learned during the YF epidemic in Angola. Methods: A total of 4618 blood samples from suspected YF cases were sent to the Instituto Nacional de Investigação em Saúde (INIS), a national referral and public health laboratory, between December 5, 2015, and December 23, 2016. Sample analyses were conducted using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays. Blood samples were sent from 16 out of the 18 provinces of Angola. Results: We detected 884 (19.1%) cases that were positive for ELISA, which were confirmed by RT-PCR assay. Considering the positive cases, the incidence among male patients was around three times higher (n = 223; 10.9%) than in female patients (n = 59; 2.6%) in the 20–29 age group, followed by the age group 10–19 with n = 211 (6.8%) in males versus n = 108 (3.3%) in females; and the age group 30–39 had n = 68 (4.8%) in males versus n = 28 (1.8%) in females. The other groups had an incidence below 3.0%. The case fatality ratio for YF was in young adults in the age group 20–29 with n = 39 cases, followed by the age group 10–19 with n = 16 cases, and finally the age group 0–9 with n = 13 cases. The other age groups had several deaths by YF below 10 cases. Conclusions: This study demonstrates features of the YF epidemic that occurred in Angola. Also, it demonstrates that YF causes deaths in young people but is preventable by high vaccine coverage. Thus, public health laboratory surveillance must be strengthened to reduce the possibility of emerging and re-emerging human infections.
AB - Background and Aims: The acute tropical infectious disease known as yellow fever (YF) is caused by an arbovirus and is characterized by fever, jaundice, hemorrhage, headache, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. Angola experienced a yellow fever virus (YFV) outbreak that was documented in December 2015. However, little is known about the outcome of this outbreak. We aimed to demonstrate epidemic features and lessons learned during the YF epidemic in Angola. Methods: A total of 4618 blood samples from suspected YF cases were sent to the Instituto Nacional de Investigação em Saúde (INIS), a national referral and public health laboratory, between December 5, 2015, and December 23, 2016. Sample analyses were conducted using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays. Blood samples were sent from 16 out of the 18 provinces of Angola. Results: We detected 884 (19.1%) cases that were positive for ELISA, which were confirmed by RT-PCR assay. Considering the positive cases, the incidence among male patients was around three times higher (n = 223; 10.9%) than in female patients (n = 59; 2.6%) in the 20–29 age group, followed by the age group 10–19 with n = 211 (6.8%) in males versus n = 108 (3.3%) in females; and the age group 30–39 had n = 68 (4.8%) in males versus n = 28 (1.8%) in females. The other groups had an incidence below 3.0%. The case fatality ratio for YF was in young adults in the age group 20–29 with n = 39 cases, followed by the age group 10–19 with n = 16 cases, and finally the age group 0–9 with n = 13 cases. The other age groups had several deaths by YF below 10 cases. Conclusions: This study demonstrates features of the YF epidemic that occurred in Angola. Also, it demonstrates that YF causes deaths in young people but is preventable by high vaccine coverage. Thus, public health laboratory surveillance must be strengthened to reduce the possibility of emerging and re-emerging human infections.
KW - Aedes aegypti
KW - Angola
KW - flavivirus
KW - infectionyellow fever
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85185341483&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/hsr2.1924
DO - 10.1002/hsr2.1924
M3 - Article
C2 - 38444843
AN - SCOPUS:85185341483
SN - 2398-8835
VL - 7
JO - Health Science Reports
JF - Health Science Reports
IS - 2
M1 - e1924
ER -
