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The Government of Amapá confirmed Wednesday one death from yellow fever in the city of Macapá. The patient was a 21-year-old man who was hospitalized at the Oswaldo Cruz State Emergency Hospital for several days.

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The patient was admitted to the hospital with symptoms of abdominal pain and fever for 10 days, jaundice and a flaccid and painful abdomen. After the suspicion of yellow fever was notified on July 19, the Central Laboratory of Amapá (Lacen/AP) performed RT PCR, which confirmed the case Wednesday. “This case was probably acquired in a forest area in the region, as it is a disease that is closely linked to the entry of man into these environments, which is where the main vector is: the mosquito. So, probably the infection occurred in this situation” , detailed Dorinaldo Malafaia, Superintendent of Health Surveillance of Amapá (SVS/AP).

Although the death occurred in Macapá, the young man was a resident of Rio Tambaqui do Vieira, in Afuá (PA), and worked in a sawmill, but he came to the capital of Amapá in search of medical care.

“This information has already been passed on to the municipality of Afuá (PA), because this case is not local, it is imported, we must highlight this. Even though the hospitalization and death occurred in Macapá, the patient came from another municipality, so the contamination was not found here. We communicated the Health Surveillance of Afuá, so that they can take the necessary measures and make the vaccine blockade in the region” , he added.

After notification, Dorinaldo explains that the SVS seeks to know the path taken by the patient to track possible cases, even if vaccination coverage in the capital is efficient. “We have excellent coverage. In recent years, we have been following an isolated case, last year, in a mining region, but we cannot say whether it was part of Amapá or French Guiana. And now, this case imported from Afuá. In the specific issue of Amapá, we have good control of the disease” , concluded the superintendent.

In addition, in the municipality of Dona Emma,  Santa Catarina state, two monkeys were found dead from yellow fever. According to the Department of Health, soon after the collection of the test and notification, the team has already carried out all the preventive work against the disease, making a vaccine blockade and an active search for the unvaccinated within a radius of 800 meters.

With this fact, concern grows in seeking out people who are not vaccinated, as the only form of protection against this disease is immunization, since yellow fever does not have specific treatment. “The disappearance, death of monkeys, leaves us on alert, as they are victims like human beings, making us feel the presence of the virus close by”, emphasizes the technician Cátia Fritz Batista Leite.