Yellow fever vaccination: important new guidance for health professionals

Public Health England has published guidance for health professionals managing clinical incidents or adverse vaccine associated events related to yellow fever vaccination

On 27 January 2020, Public Health England published guidance [1] on the recommended immediate management of:

• Persons who are well or unwell following inadvertent administration of yellow fever (YF) vaccine (i.e. where there was a contraindication to yellow fever vaccination).
• Persons experiencing a YF vaccine associated severe adverse event.

This guidance is for health professionals working in Yellow Fever Vaccination Centres (YFVCs) and those providing medical care to persons who are well or unwell following inadvertent administration of the vaccine, or those who are vaccinated appropriately, but who develop a vaccine associated adverse event following vaccination.

As well as providing a background to the recommendations, included in the guidance are:

• A flow chart of actions to be taken.
• A surveillance form on which to document an incident or severe adverse event (including medical and travel history).
• Definition of roles and responsibilities of the reporting and supervising clinical teams.

Health professionals working in UKYFVCs should read this guidance in its entirety, ensure the information is disseminated widely to the clinical team and applied in clinical practice.

Travellers who receive YF vaccine should be informed by the administering health professional about the early signs and symptoms of YF vaccine side effects and need to urgently seek medical attention if serious side effects are suspected [2].

The full guidance is available from Public Health England:

• Guidance in the event of yellow fever vaccination in travellers with a contraindication or report of a yellow fever vaccine associated serious adverse event