Matanzas, one of the Cuban epicenters of the chikungunya epidemic, began this Wednesday a clinical trial with the drug Jusvinza for the treatment of residual polyarthritis in patients convalescent from such disease.
According to a report from the agency Latin Press (PL)the Comandante Faustino Pérez Clinical-Surgical-Teaching Hospital, in the city of Matanzas, will take the reins of this field research, which “has among its objectives the evaluation of the effectiveness of the drug in reducing pain and joint inflammation.”
Citing local sources, P.L. explained that the study includes people who suffered from chikungunya and maintain joint symptoms for more than three months.
The patients were selected between the ages of 19 and 80 and under specific criteria to guarantee greater effectiveness in the results of the clinical trial, the report states.
The clinical trial with the drug Jusvinza, developed by the #CIGB for the treatment of residual polyarthritis in convalescent chikungunya patients, began in #Matanzas , #Cuba
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Jusvinza, tested against chikungunya
Treatment with Jusvinza consists of nine subcutaneous doses distributed over six weeks. In the first week, three consecutive doses are applied; in the second, two doses, and from the third to the sixth a weekly dose, according to the sources cited.
According to the Oncology specialist and member of the CIGB Clinical Research Group Yudisay Reyes, the application of the treatment can be carried out on an outpatient or inpatient basis, depending on the clinical situation of the patient and their place of residence, especially in the case of those who live far from the Faustino Pérez Hospital.
In the research design, 120 patients were taken, divided into two groups of 60: one that will receive Jusvinza along with conventional treatment and another that will continue only with the usual therapy.
Jusvinza is a Cuban medicine developed by the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), initially conceived as an immunomodulatory peptide to treat severe inflammatory processes.
Its origin is linked to research on molecules capable of regulating the immune response and reducing tissue damage in autoimmune diseases and states of hyperinflammation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jusvinza was used in seriously ill patients with encouraging results, which consolidated its profile as an innovative therapy within Cuban biotechnology and opened new lines of application in pathologies with a strong inflammatory component.
Minors form a risk group in the dengue and chikungunya epidemic that plagues Cuba
Expanding epidemic
The clinical trial with Jusvinza in Matanzas takes place when Cuban health authorities admit that the country is in a “complicated situation” due to the dengue and chikungunya epidemic, and project an “unfavorable” evolution of the outbreak in the coming weeks.
The Vice Minister of Public Health, Carilda Peña, admitted last Tuesday that the island faces a “complicated situation” due to the circulation of these two arboviruses, just 24 hours after announcing deaths linked to the epidemic for the first time.
At the beginning of the week, the Minsap confirmed a total of 33 deaths from chikungunya and dengue, of which 21 were minors, the first official announcement of deaths in the epidemic.
Meanwhile, the director of Science and Technology of the University of Havana, Raúl Guinovart, predicted in a thematic meeting of experts that “the behavior of arboviruses in the coming weeks will be unfavorable,” as reported by the Presidency on its website.
The government has recognized that official statistics are under-recorded since a good number of patients do not go to hospitals for treatment due to the lack of medicines in dispensaries.
Chikungunya beyond Cuba
The chikungunya virus was identified for the first time in 1952 in Tanzania, in the Makonde region, where its name comes from: “chikungunya” means in that language “to bend over in pain”, alluding to the hunched posture that patients adopt due to intense arthralgia.
It is an alphavirus transmitted by mosquitoes of the Aedes genus (mainly Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus), the same vectors of dengue and Zika. Since its discovery, the disease has been characterized by epidemic outbreaks with high fever and debilitating joint pain, which has also earned it the name “bone breaker fever.”
Chikungunya remained limited to Africa and Asia for decades, but since its re-emergence in 2004 it has spread to more than 115 countries.
Today, recurrent outbreaks are reported in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia, with active transmission throughout the year in tropical and subtropical areas.
In the Region of the Americas, for example, the Pan American Health Organization reported more than 410,000 cases in 2023, with Brazil as the regional epicenter, and similarly high numbers in 2024.
