Havana Cuba. — The new outbreak of hemorrhagic dengue in Cuba it has put in check the deteriorated health system of the Island, a situation that is beginning to worry the population, which flocks to hospital centers.
However, it should be noted that the majority of polyclinics and hospitals in the country lack material to offer an accurate diagnosis to patients, something essential to effectively treat a disease whose first symptoms are often confused with those of other ailments.
“Headache, high fever, loss of appetite, constant vomiting and abdominal pain are the most frequent symptoms with which we identify dengue,” he told CubaNet under condition of anonymity a doctor from the province of Mayabeque.
The specialist confirmed to this newspaper that several municipal polyclinics do not have the necessary reagents to perform blood tests, a fact that has a negative impact on the diagnosis of the patient and the treatment of the disease.
According to the health professional, energy crisis that the country is going through has also had a negative impact on the quality of diagnoses.
“On occasions we have had reagents to do a limited number of blood tests, but the equipment cannot be turned on using the power plant. Due to power outages of more than eight hours, the samples are often spoiled or the result is not reliable”, added the doctor.
The source maintains that the most complicated cases arrive at the hospital after several days in the municipalities or at home without proper attention and treatment. In this sense, the specialist issued an alert, since the loss of fluids due to vomiting, fever and lack of medication to control symptoms can end up being fatal.
Yuliet Barroso, an intensivist nurse at the William Soler Pediatric Hospital in Havana, revealed that “many children arrive at the hospital dehydrated without there being an IV or a trocar to channel the veins.”
Although this facility is located in the capital, it receives the majority of children sick with dengue who are sent from Mayabeque.
“We have had to tell the parents to get it on the black market and bring it to the hospital, because we don’t have it,” the nurse told this newspaper.
Barroso adds that the shortage of supplies and medicines, added to the electricity cuts in the hospital, makes the work of doctors and nurses difficult.
“I have seen many children die of dengue in recent months and that is something very serious that no one says anywhere,” added the woman.
Aimé González, a housewife who lives in Mayabeque, told CubaNet that “for a mother it is exasperating to see her sick child and to be told that there are no reagents for an analysis or that there is no serum in the entire hospital to prevent dehydration.”
“I spent the worst days of my life with my two children hospitalized with dengue. They should prioritize pediatric hospitals at least,” she pointed out.
Out of control epidemic
The increase in cases of hemorrhagic dengue in recent weeks worries medical personnel and other workers linked to Public Health in the province of Mayabeque.
Edel Suarez, a worker from the Ministry of Public Health and in charge of the fumigation, pointed out that no actions have been taken in the territory to stop the advance of the epidemic.
“For months we have not received products or fuel to fumigate. There is no longer such a campaign against the mosquito Aedes aegypti. Cleanups of potential areas are no longer organized, nor are there resources or fuel to fumigate or to veneer and clean the outbreaks.”
The natural cycle of mosquito reproduction causes its spread to skyrocket in the period between May and November. Statistics published by official media of the Island indicate that at the end of July the provinces with proven dengue transmission were Sancti Spíritus, Camagüey, Las Tunas, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo.
The Aedes Aegypti is capable of transmitting the four different serotypes of the virus and is fully adapted to the urban conditions that exist on the Island.
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