The simultaneous circulation of serotypes 3 and 4 of Dengue raises the risk of developing the most severe forms of the disease.
Holguin, Cuba. – Dengue cases in Holguin increase. The situation worsens by the simultaneous circulation of serotypes 3 and 4 of the virus, a combination that dramatically elevates the risk of developing the most severe forms of the disease.
The information derives from A statement of the Pediatric Hospital “Octavio de la Concepción de la Pedraja” by Holguín, which details a complex epidemiological panorama. This situation is particularly dangerous for children who have already had a previous infection by another virus serotype, since heterologist immunization, the statement precise, can trigger an exacerbated immune response and serious complications.
Given this threat, the hospital has asked families not to underestimate symptoms such as high fever, intense abdominal pain, vomiting or any bleeding. Similarly, he emphasized the need for rigorous clinical management giving priority to hydration and constant monitoring of vital signs, and asked to avoid the use of anti -inflammatories such as ibuprofen. Prevention within the hospital itself and education to parents about when to seek immediate medical help complete the strategy.
The rise of the disease in Holguinero territory has been repeated with unfortunate regularity: in 2015, the epidemiological situation worsened in such a way that it forced the authorities to declare a health emergency in the head of the head of the province.
It was in the context of that crisis, in March 2016, that the then first secretary of the Communist Party in the province, Luis Antonio Torres Iríbar, publicly recognized the failure of health management. “We can put the resources of the world, the fuel of the world, the men of the world, but if things are not done well, we will not obtain results in the battle against dengue,” The leader regretted during a meeting released by the Provincial Issuer Radio Angulo.
His words directly pointed to irresponsibility and lack of rigor in the primary care system. “If the investigation is not done as it has to be done … Epidemics will continue to repeat,” he warned.
Years later, unfortunately, the forecast was fulfilled. The outbreaks in 2017, 2020 and 2022 They confirmed that the problem is endemic and structural.
The journalist Lourdes Pichs Rodríguez, from her column in the official newspaper Now, wondered in 2019 How much the province had invested in material and human resources to face the epidemiological situation faced in Holguin since 2014. “This question was asked three years ago and, at that time, no one could answer with exact data,” he said.
To try to reflect the size of the expense, Pichs proposed a simple, but revealing, mental calculation to the reader. He urged everyone to do a “brief mathematical exercise of what is intended to guarantee fuel, medications, reagents, medical attention, hospital income; chemical products, mobilized personnel from other provinces and from within our borders; food and other actions completed day by day”.
However, the fundamental problem was not only the immense expenditure of resources, but also the frustrating and cyclical repetition of systemic failures that persist. Clearly, the journalist exposed repeated problems. “Read any report or journalistic work on this particular and will see the same deficiencies listed,” he said, and alluded to the “instability or strength deficit specialized in vector control, poor quality in the focal engineer treatment, high focus and high infestation rates.” Its conclusion remains an uncomfortable truth: “Weaknesses are properly identified, but they have just resolved once and for all.”
