anti-vax and yellow fever vax for african travel

[mamaLHK]

hello, i am now fairly anti-vax after vaxing my now 6 year old son through 18 months under great pressure and feeling very confused. i am now (mostly) confident to stop vaxing in the u.s. however, in the next few years i would like to travel with my family to tanzania and maybe some other countries in east and southern africa, and i think the "most important" vax they say you need is the yellow fever vax. in some african countries you even have to prevent documentation that you have vaxed in order to enter the country. does anyone have any information/educated opinions on this particular vaccine and the risks of giving it or skipping it (if we are in fact able to do so and still able to enter the country? thank you in advance.

[cappuccinosmom]

You'll have to check with consulates about whether they'll let you in without the vax.

Because it is a mosquito borne disease, you can cut your chances of contracting it by practicing good prevention. Mosquito nets over your beds (make there they have no holes), mosquito repellent, etc. Which you'll want to do anyway because of malaria.

This site has info on who definitely shouldn't get the vaccine, and some of it's side effects.

If you are anti-vax on principal, then it doesn't really matter. You could probably get an excemption for visas. But if it's a health issue, what you may want to do is look up the incidence of yellow fever in the areas you'll be travelling to and weigh that against the risk of vaccine side-effects.