HAVANA, Cuba. – “My only son has been suffering for five years from an illness that has deteriorated him physically and psychologically; The doctors’ response is that there is no cure, that it is something chronic; “I can’t stand seeing my son suffer anymore,” he wrote to CubaNet Yurixandra Aurora Rodríguez, mother of Roberto Carlos Cabrera Rodríguez, both residents of the Jesús Menéndez municipality, in Las Tunas.
The 17-year-old adolescent suffers from folliculitis decalvansa chronic inflammatory disease that causes progressive hair loss and scar formation.
Rodríguez told CubaNet that the condition causes inflammation of the scalp and severe pain, burning and itching in your child. “Most of the time he has abundant pus practically all over his head, which prevents him from sleeping, eating and living a normal life,” he explained.
“For days, even his face has a lot of pus; It is now draining down the neck. He can barely sleep because he sometimes can’t put his head on the pillow. Doctors have told us that stress, heat and the sun exacerbate their condition, but how do we avoid that?” asks Rodríguez.
The teenager has been treated in several hospitals in Las Tunas in the last five years, he has been treated by specialists in Dermatology and Immunology, who have provided him with various medical treatments, however, he has not seen improvement. The last response to the family was to send him home without medication because his illness supposedly had no cure.
Without adequate medical treatment
A dermatology specialist with more than 25 years of experience – who asked to protect his identity for fear of losing his job – assured CubaNet that folliculitis decalvans, although it is a chronic disease, does have treatment. He also stated that patients can improve considerably.
However, he pointed out that in Cuba Cuba neither the conditions nor all the medications necessary to treat the disease exist.
“The causes [de la enfermedad] They can be bacteria or fungi; That is why the treatment must be focused on combating both and is long-term; It takes several months,” explained the specialist.
After analyzing numerous images of the lesions caused by folliculitis decalvans on the teenager’s scalp, the doctor insisted on the need for his hospitalization to be able to thoroughly investigate the causes of the disease and its treatment under medical inspection. However, he pointed out that not all hospitals have Dermatology rooms or the required drugs.
The doctor commented that the first thing would be to perform a mycological exudate and another bacteriological exudate to have an accurate diagnosis. Likewise, the adolescent needs to take doxycycline, an antibiotic that on the Island is only supplied in hospital institutions, when available, and continue later with other medicines (with an antifungal function).
The doctor also insisted on frequent washing of the head with boiled water and ketoconazole shampoo, which does not exist on the Island.
On the other hand, due to the aggressiveness of the treatment, the adolescent must have good nutrition, eating mainly proteins, which are not available in any Cuban hospital to which the national population has access.
“Perhaps the doctors who treated him have not been sufficiently prepared because this is a rare disease. Sometimes we treat the bacteria and not the fungus, and both must be combated for the patient to be cured. It may also be that the lack of medications and hospital conditions have influenced both the worsening and the lack of solutions for the patient,” the doctor said.
“The cure is long, but possible if it is treated properly and with the medications it takes,” he added.
Roberto Carlos Cabrera Rodríguez is currently in 12th grade (high school). This course has only been able to attend classes for two days; Last year he was forced to be absent for about six months.
“I can’t take it anymore, I can’t stand seeing my son suffer like that,” the mother told CubaNet.
