Ask the Experts: Yellow Fever

Results (6)

Following a multi-year shortage, in April 2021, the FDA-licensed yellow fever vaccine, YF-Vax (Sanofi) resumed availability for purchase in the United States. Providers with a current Yellow Fever Vaccination Stamp issued by their state or territorial health department may order YF-VAX from the manufacturer.

Locations that administer yellow fever vaccine can be found on CDC’s yellow fever vaccination clinic search page at wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellow-fever-vaccination-clinics/search.

Healthcare providers should refer to the section titled “Yellow Fever and Malaria Information, by Country,” in CDC Health Information for International Travel 2024 (“The Yellow Book”) for information about the countries that require yellow fever vaccination for entry and the countries where CDC recommends yellow fever vaccination. If a country does not have an entry requirement, CDC does not recommend yellow fever vaccination if the traveler’s itinerary does not include travel to a yellow fever–endemic area. This section is available at wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2024/preparing/yellow-fever-vaccine-malaria-prevention-by-country.

Last reviewed: August 21, 2023

The CDC’s General Best Practice Guidelines for Immunization generally recommends that live parenterally or nasally administered vaccines not given on the same day should be separated by at least 28 days. Despite this general principle, limited data suggest that coadministration of yellow fever vaccine and MMR may diminish the immune response. The CDC travel health website recommends that yellow fever vaccine and other parenteral or nasal live vaccines should be separated by at least 30 days, if possible. If yellow fever vaccine and another injectable live-virus vaccine are not administered either simultaneously or at least 30 days apart, CDC advises that providers might consider measuring the patient’s neutralizing antibody response to vaccination before travel. CDC recommends contacting the state health department or the CDC Arboviral Disease Branch (970-221-6400) to discuss serologic testing. For details, see the 2024 Yellow Book section on spacing of vaccines and immunobiologics: wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2024/preparing/vaccination-and-immunoprophylaxis-general-principles#spacing.

Last reviewed: August 21, 2023

No, Dengvaxia does not protect the recipient against yellow fever.

Last reviewed: February 16, 2022

All vaccines except the live, replication-competent smallpox vaccine (ACAM2000, Emergent Biosolutions) and yellow fever vaccine may be given to people who are breastfeeding.

ACAM2000 is contraindicated due to the theoretical risk of contact transmission of the vaccine virus from mother to child.

The only yellow fever (YF) vaccine licensed in the United States (YF-Vax, Sanofi) is contraindicated in people who are breastfeeding infants younger than 9 months of age. There have been three case reports of YF vaccine-associated encephalitis in infants under one month of age who were being exclusively breastfed at the time the mother received YF vaccine. ACIP currently recommends that people who are breastfeeding should be advised to postpone travel to YF endemic or epidemic regions; however, if travel cannot be avoided or postponed, the breastfeeding parent should receive YF vaccine. Although there are no data, some experts recommend that breastfeeding people who receive YF vaccine should temporarily suspend breastfeeding, pump, and discard pumped milk for at least 2 weeks after vaccination before resuming breastfeeding.

Last reviewed: August 29, 2022

Yellow fever is contraindicated for people who have a history of a severe (anaphylactic) allergy to eggs.

ACIP and CDC no longer consider egg allergy of any severity to be a contraindication or precaution to egg-based influenza vaccines. A person with egg allergy of any severity may receive any influenza vaccine that is appropriate for the person’s age and health status. When administering an egg-based influenza vaccine to a person with egg allergy of any severity, no additional safety precautions are needed, beyond those recommended when administering any vaccine to any recipient.

For more details about giving influenza vaccine to people with a history of egg allergy, go to www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/vacc-specific/flu.html for a link to the current ACIP recommendations for influenza vaccination.

Last reviewed: September 19, 2022

The “General Best Practice Guidelines for Immunization” (see www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/general-recs/timing.html) makes the generic recommendation that live parenterally or nasally administered vaccines not given on the same day should be separated by at least 28 days. The CDC travel health website recommends that yellow fever vaccine and other parenteral or nasal live vaccines should be separated by at least 30 days if possible. Either interval is acceptable.

Last reviewed: June 19, 2023

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