The Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) confirmed the presence of Dengue and Oroopouche in 12 of 15 provinces, and the expansion of Chikunguña in five of themstate media report in the middle of the health crisis through which the island crosses.
The director of hygiene and epidemiology of Minsap, Francisco Durán, told state television that the situation with the arbovirosis is “more complex than in previous months” and attributed the increase in transmission to “the rains, heat and accumulation of garbage” in the streets.
In its weekly update, the specialist explained that the high infestation of the transmitter mosquito, the aedes aegypti, has caused that The number of patients of dengue And of those admitted to that virus. There are “seven in serious condition”, but not critical.
He recalled that the Chikunguña virus reappeared two months ago in the province of Matanzas and that right now it is also present in Pinar del Río, Havana, and in Guantanamo and Santiago.
The manager said that one of the characteristics of Chikunguña, which inoculates the mosquito aedes albopictusThey are the strong joint pains that can persist after the acute phaseAlthough he stressed that dengue in medical literature is also recognized as “cheese fever” for the pain it causes.
Durán He denied that there were “collapsed” health centers, as well as “eleven killed in one day”as has been disseminated by social networks, and said that “that is not the situation, what happens is that it is misrepresented with bad intentions.”
Health crisis in Cuba
On the Oropoucouche, which transmits the Mosquito Cúx and another insect known as Jején, he indicated that he has also increased, but not as much as dengue, and pointed out that it is a disease that “studies without great complications.”
The Oropouche symptoms are similar to those of dengue: Fever, headaches, muscle and joint and, occasionally, vomiting and diarrhea predominate.
The existence of these diseases occurs in a scenario of economic crisis in Cuba that translates into constant blackouts, irregularities in the supply of current water, poor public transport and partial dollarization of the economy, among other problems.
Last year the health authorities reported the detection of more than 17,000 patients with suspicious cases of dengue and about 12,000 with Oroopouche.
According to statistics from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), in the last decade, Cuba has notified in two different years more than 3000 cases of dengue.
In 2019, there were 3259 infections, while in 2022 3036 were reported.
In that year the Minsap confirmed 11 634 reactive cases, that is, evidence in which the presence of dengue was identified either because the disease was still active or because the patient had already surpassed it.
