Madrid/The Cuban authorities they showed yesterday that the health situation, far from subsiding, is advancing. And not a little. Carilda García Peña, vice minister of Public Health, said this Wednesday that there is a “significant increase in the rate of suspected cases of fever, with 24.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The Ministry has not broken down the data by disease and limits itself to pointing out that dengue is the “most dangerous”, but the data from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reveal that the rate in this case reaches 59.6 per 100,000.
García Peña warned that the regional context is bad and that the situation on the Island is not exclusive. The PAHO figures – which are those provided by the authorities of each country – coincide. There are rates much higher than the Cuban one, from 6,191 in Guyana, to 1,629 in Brazil, or 333 in Panama. If divided by regions, the Island is not the champion either, since Puerto Rico –81.2– presents worse numbers.
However, there is one very notable fact, and that is the proportion between global cases and serious cases. This figure gives clues about the effectiveness of the Health system, since a country could have many registered patients but few progress poorly, as is the case of Brazil, whose proportion of serious cases is only 0.07% of the total. In this case, Cuba is among the countries with the worst proportions, since a large majority have rates well below 1% and the Island reaches 1.09%. Worrying is the fact that the United States, with only 0.21 dengue patients per 100,000 inhabitants, has a proportion of 1.78% cases that progress poorly.
Cuba is among the countries with the worst proportions, since a large majority have rates well below 1% and the Island reaches 1.09%
According to the numbers that the authorities have provided to PAHO, 71 severely ill people have been recorded on the Island, out of a total of 6,519 affected. This figure refers to suspected cases, not only confirmed ones, but they must have been notified to the authorities to be part of the count, so the real number must be much higher, since not all patients report it or go to medical services, suffering from a lack of personnel, means, medicines and unhealthiness.
García Peña stated yesterday – and this is also stated on the PAHO website – that cases of dengue type 2, 3 and, especially, 4 circulate more in Cuba. Although all are considered potentially dangerous, types 2 and 3 are more commonly associated with serious evolution, according to the scientific community. The vice minister pointed out this Wednesday that an infected person who has suffered from a different serotype than the one they contracted has a greater risk of worsening, having dengue hemorrhagic fever, or even an increased chance of dying.
The official focused on this disease because it is, as can be seen when looking at the separate incidence of dengue, the one with the most circulation and the most serious, but there is also chikungunya, Zika, yellow fever and oropouche, the latter in slight decline, as she commented.
By territory, dengue has the most cases in Las Tunas, Ciego de Ávila, Matanzas, Sancti Spíritus, Villa Clara and Havana, not in that order – the minister did not indicate the cases by province, nor which one has the most –, while chikungunya, which began its expansion in Perico (Matanzas) in July, has spread to almost the entire Island, although the capital and Matanzas are the most affected.
By territory, dengue has more cases in Las Tunas, Ciego de Ávila, Matanzas, Sancti Spíritus, Villa Clara and Havana, not in that order
The authorities insisted yesterday that a large mass fumigation campaign against the mosquito is being carried out. Aedes aegypti that spreads the disease, although the population points out that it is already too late. There are 26 fumigation cars and 2,334 backpack machines – bazookas – and they are guaranteed, stated the official, insecticides and abatement for water tanks.
“The main goal is that people do not reach serious periods of the disease and avoid fatal outcomes,” added Reinol Delfín García Moreiro, vice minister of Public Health, who supported his colleague’s call to be attentive to the disease and go to medical services. Cuba has, he argued, more than 10,700 medical offices and 451 polyclinics with emergency services, he said, despite the fact that the authorities themselves have recognized the delicate situation in which they find themselves.
