The authorities of Sancti Spíritus and Ciego de Ávila have decreed the “epidemic phase” due to the increase in dengue infections. After registering a rate of 14.4 patients per 1,000 people from Sancti Spiritus in the last week – and although the neighboring province does not reveal its figures – the Ministry of Public Health assured that there are different variants of the disease circulating in the central area of the country and that the picture tends to get complicated.
In a interview published this Wednesday in the official media Escambraythe director of the Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Microbiology in Sancti Spíritus, Carlos Ruiz, assured that the numbers in the province are below the national average, but that the situation is still “worrying.”
Although many municipalities are out of risk for the moment, others have high rates of contagion. The most complex case is that of La Sierpe, an area with few inhabitants, but which has presented a rate of 108.8 patients per 1,000 inhabitants in the last week.
As for the main municipality and Trinidad, two of the most affected, the rate of diagnoses is 14.2 and 14.7 people per 1,000 inhabitants, respectively.
For their part, the authorities of neighboring Ciego de Ávila also warned of the presence of two dangerous variants of the virus that accelerate discomfort in those infected and an upturn in infections. In mid-June, the province registered 152 outbreaks in just one week in the main municipality alone. In others, such as Baraguá, Morón and Ciudad del Gallo, up to 21 possible infected were registered daily. This August, Morón became the second municipality with the most infections, behind Ciego de Ávila.
As for the main municipality and Trinidad, two of the most affected, the rate of diagnoses is 14.2 and 14.7 people per 1,000 inhabitants, respectively.
According to a report offered by the official newspaper invader This Thursday, the situation in the province has not improved, but rather, the authorities admit, “not much has changed.”
The responsibility, they add, falls on the families, who “fail to comply with the home income” to go to work or on vacation. They do not review the possible outbreaks, they refuse to carry out the diagnoses to identify the virus or they do not declare the symptoms.
Added to this is the lack of personnel to carry out investigations, the malfunctioning of community groups, the shortage of medical supplies to diagnose and treat the disease, and the absence of fuel to fumigate, which has forced “managing the little among many.”
Another critical situation, and one that contributes to the spread of dengue on the island, is the number of garbage dumps and deposits that have appeared in Cuban cities in recent years, without anyone taking care of them.
“Today the course of dengue in the province tends to increase the number of suspects, the incidence rate and the speed of transmission; while intensive actions in areas identified as high epidemiological risk are limited to blocking cases (fumigate the sick person’s house and the adjacent ones)”, the newspaper reports. With these statistics, and although officials are not clear about it, the country has long since entered the epidemic phase.
“Today the course of dengue in the province tends to increase the number of suspects, the incidence rate and the speed of transmission”
Cuba has been announcing the development of an immunogen against the dengue virus for 10 years. This February, Eduardo Martínez Díaz, president of BioCubaFarma, assured that by 2023 the first vaccine candidate will finally be available, but so far neither the authorities of the Ministry of Public Health nor the state group have provided details of the progress of the investigation. . The Government defends that the delays in the development of the drug is due to the complexity of the four serotypes of the virus.
Meanwhile, cholera has also become a risk for families in Guantanamo. The Ministry of Public Health announced Wednesday that it will strengthen surveillance after an increase in cases of the bacterial disease in neighboring countries, especially Haiti.
Airport authorities have already begun to take measures to prevent cholera from reaching the island by air. Passengers entering from countries with active cases are given a dose of doxycycline, an antibiotic used to prevent the growth of bacteria . In addition, there will be clinical surveillance for two weeks from its entry. In the case of people who present some level of dehydration, tests will be carried out to rule out contagion.
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