Along this path, this Tuesday afternoon two exchanges were held between the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, with experts and scientists for health issues, and the members of the Temporary Group of I work for the prevention and control of COVID-19 and dengue.

At the center of the analyzes of both meetings was the evaluation of the behavior of the dengue and COVID-19 epidemics in the country, two aspects that do not allow carelessness in their confrontation.

Dengue in October: Maintain surveillance and vector control
October —assert the specialists— is confirmed in Cuba as a month in which the infestation rates of the Aedes aegypti mosquito tend to increase and, therefore, also the incidence of dengue among the Cuban population.

Such reflections were shared this Tuesday during President Díaz-Canel’s meeting with experts and scientists for health issues, in which Dr. Francisco Durán García, director of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Public Health, drew attention to the effects of Hurricane Ian in the epidemiological situation of the country and the importance of maintaining and intensifying vector control actions.

To the extent that the sanitation work progresses —he reflected— we will be in better conditions to contain the increase in the infestation, which is ultimately what is leading us to still have somewhat high incidence rates of suspected cases.

In support of his assessments, he commented on the experience of health intervention that is currently being carried out in the province of Mayabeque, specifically in the municipality of Batabanó, in the community of Surgidero, where the effects associated with Hurricane Ian made the epidemiological situation.

Even though there the cases with febrile syndrome that are being seen in the demand for care have not decreased, it is indisputable that the rates of infestation are improving discreetly, he considered.

Precisely in the municipality of Batabanó, dengue transmission was opened during the last week, the first deputy minister of the Ministry of Public Health, Tania Margarita Cruz Hernández, would explain shortly after, at the Temporary Working Group meeting for the prevention and control of COVID-19. 19 and dengue. The epidemiological control and surveillance actions implemented there have been essential to avoid a much more complex scenario.

Reporting on the behavior of the disease in the country over the course of the last week, Cruz Hernández specified that dengue transmission is maintained in the 15 provinces, as well as in 44 municipalities and 62 health areas. As a favorable element, she highlighted that the incidence rate of suspected cases decreased by 32.7% compared to the same preceding period.

The provinces with rates of suspected cases above the national average are Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Camagüey, Matanzas, Sancti Spíritus, Villa Clara and Mayabeque.

In this sense, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party insisted on the priority with which work must be done throughout the country in the identification of foci in order to act against the proliferation of the mosquito.

Without trusting ourselves before covid-19
September has been the best month of this year in terms of the incidence of COVID-19 in Cuba, assured Dr. Raúl Guinovart Díaz, dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computing of the University of Havana, when sharing together to experts and scientists for health issues, the usual forecasts on the behavior of the epidemic.

The forecasts, he assessed, are quite favorable for all the provinces, and it is expected that the trend towards control will continue throughout the national territory.

The figures shared shortly after, at the meeting of the Temporary Working Group for the prevention and control of COVID-19 and dengue, by the First Vice Minister of Public Health, although they do not constitute any reason to neglect the epidemiological surveillance actions associated with the disease, show the favorable situation that is manifested throughout the country.

Let us take some examples as a basis for this certainty: at the end of the last week, ending on October 1, the diagnosis of positive cases decreased by 53.1% compared to the same previous period; there were eight weeks in which a decrease in infections was confirmed; Meanwhile, for six consecutive weeks, the death of no Cuban as a result of COVID-19 has been regretted.

Given this favorable scenario, an evident example of how much work has been done in Cuba to contain the epidemic and minimize its damage to the population, the President of the Republic insisted that we cannot trust each other, and we must continue to monitor and observe the behavior of the disease. in order to maintain the control that has been achieved over it.

Intertwine strategies to advance health goals
Precisely about the many and diverse actions that are promoted and implemented by the Ministry of Public Health to comply with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and their articulation with the 2030 National Economic and Social Development Plan in the post-COVID-19 context, he detailed also during the working day Ileana Morales Suárez, director of Science and Technological Innovation of the Ministry of Public Health.

The COVID-19 epidemic, she assured, has not been a reason to neglect these lines of work, which are of vital importance to guarantee a better quality of life for our population. When the world set goal 3, which is to “guarantee a healthy life and promote the well-being of all”, multiple strategies had already been outlined in our country to achieve it, recalled Morales Suárez.

In an inclusive manner, she detailed, we have managed to align the Sustainable Development Goals with the National Plan for Economic and Social Development and that has led us to a more comprehensive strategy for compliance.

As an unquestionable strength to advance in these purposes, he highlighted, among others, all the Health structures that exist throughout the country, such as the clinics; the Family Physician Program; the universities of Medical Sciences; almost half a million health workers; cooperation links with other organizations, and a healthcare and scientific network.

Cuba, like the rest of the countries in the world, faces great health challenges. More than six decades of Revolution have paved the way so that facing them is not a matter of one day or carrying out campaigns, but rather a supreme purpose on the road to protecting the health of its people.

(By: Yaima Puig Meneses)

The exchange was led by the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and president of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and the prime minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, a member of the Political Bureau.

The head of the Ministry of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, reported that there is dengue transmission in the 15 provinces and the Isle of Youth. The incidence rate of suspected cases in the past week, number 37 of the year, increased with respect to the previous one by 2.5 percent.

The infestation and disease rates continue to warn that institutional, family and business responsibility in order to reduce the outbreaks of the Aedes aegypti mosquito is key in dengue control, starting with the quality of the work of those who work in the anti-vector campaign .

In the meeting by videoconference with political and government authorities from all the country’s territories, the president of the National Assembly of People’s Power, Esteban Lazo Hernández; the deputy prime ministers, Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdés Menéndez, Inés María Chapman Waugh, Ricardo Cabrisas Ruíz, Alejandro Gil Fernández and Jorge Luis Perdomo Di-Lella, as well as ministers and other authorities.

The meeting, which systematically analyzes the behavior of a group of sectors and activities directly linked to the daily life of the population, also evaluated the covid-19 epidemic, whose indicators continue to go towards a sustained decline, a sign of the control that Cuba has achieved in confronting the disease and the transmission of the virus.

The issue was also addressed at the weekly meeting of the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister with experts and scientists for health issues. Doctor of Science Gerardo Guillén Nieto, director of Biomedical Research at the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), presented the Cuban strategy for the dengue vaccine.

It is a path that still requires time, but that is becoming more and more viable given the strength of the wealth of knowledge and results achieved by Cuban scientists working on this initiative and which has achieved great international prestige.

It is a national project that began in 1992, at the initiative of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, and is jointly developed by the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK) and the CIGB.

At this week’s meeting of experts and scientists for Health issues, the usual forecasts on the behavior of the covid-19 epidemic for the days to come were also presented.

The information was explained, as is customary, by Doctor of Science Raúl Guinovart Díaz, dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computing at the University of Havana.

He referred that the reports of the disease in the country continue to decline in all provinces and in the coming weeks control of the disease should be maintained.

The prevention and control actions of the new coronavirus were also analyzed by Dr. Ileana Morales Suárez, director of Science and Technological Innovation of the Minsap, who offered an update on the Cuban Vaccination Strategy against COVID-19.

She explained that soon the country will add the application to our population of 42 million doses of national vaccines. Cuba, she explained, continues to lead, with 400 doses per hundred inhabitants, this process worldwide.

The covid-19 is not over, said Dr. Morales Suárez; however, she noted, only 67.9 percent of the world’s population has received at least one dose; however, in low-income countries, immunization has only reached 22.5 percent of their population.

Only seven countries, including Cuba, exceed 90 percent of the population fully vaccinated; at the same time, international booster doses are no more than 31 percent, she added.

He referred that the reports of the disease in the country continue to decline in all provinces and in the coming weeks control of the disease must be maintained.
The prevention and control actions of the new coronavirus were also analyzed by Dr. Ileana Morales Suárez, director of Science and Technological Innovation of the Minsap, who offered an update on the Cuban Vaccination Strategy against COVID-19.
She explained that soon the country will add the application to our population of 42 million doses of national vaccines. Cuba, she explained, continues to lead, with 400 doses per hundred inhabitants, this process worldwide.
The covid-19 is not over, said Dr. Morales Suárez; however, she noted, only 67.9 percent of the world’s population has received at least one dose; however, in low-income countries, immunization has only reached 22.5 percent of their population.
Only seven countries, including Cuba, exceed 90 percent of the population fully vaccinated; at the same time, international booster doses are no more than 31 percent, she added.
The Director of Science and Technological Innovation of the Minsap added that in our country 1,930,357 children and adolescents are fully immunized, 98.8 percent of the people in those ages who are vaccinable; and 1,459,392 have received booster doses.
This is something – pointed out Dr. Morales Suárez – that makes us proud, that speaks of the effort and dedication of those who work in our scientific centers and the health system.

(By: Rene Tamayo)

From August 14 to 20, week 33 of the year, transmission was opened in the provinces of Mayabeque (in the municipality of Güines), Cienfuegos (in Rodas) and Guantánamo (in Caimanera), it was reported at the meeting this Tuesday of the Group temporary work of the Government for the prevention and control of Covid-19.

In videoconference format with the political and government authorities of the 15 provinces and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, the exchange was led, from the Palace of the Revolution, by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic , Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and the member of the Political Bureau and Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz.

An analysis of the epidemiological situation of dengue and Aedes Aegypti at the end of week 33 was presented by Dr. Carilda Peña García, Deputy Minister of Public Health, who reported that 22,509 SUMA IgM samples were processed for dengue diagnosis, 933 more than in the previous week.

The studies showed 11,634 reactive cases, 251 more than week 32, but a positivity of 51.7 percent, somewhat lower than the previous period.

The highest positivity corresponded to the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, as well as to the provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Havana, Las Tunas, Holguín, Camagüey and Guantánamo.

Regarding the levels of infestation of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, Peña García explained that in week 33, compared to the same week of the previous year, the focus of the vector is higher by 49.5 percent, with 1,683 more foci. Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Camagüey, Villa Clara, Matanzas and Las Tunas contribute 74.1 percent of the country’s focus.

Regarding the confrontation and control of COVID-19, it was learned that at the end of last week (August 20), transmission increased by 28.9 percent compared to July.

The highest levels of transmission in the current month occur in Holguín, Santiago de Cuba, Sancti Spíritus, Camagüey, Las Tunas, Havana and Guantánamo, where 71.9 percent of the cases diagnosed in the country during August are concentrated.

In week 33, one death from COVID-19 was reported, after 13 weeks without deaths in Cuba from this cause. The cumulative lethality from the start of the pandemic to August 20 was 0.77 percent (1,109,992 cases with 8,530 deaths).

The meeting of the Temporary Working Group of the Government for the prevention and control of the pandemic, also followed up on the first reported case of monkeypox in the country —which led to the death of the patient, an Italian tourist— and surveillance that is followed with those who had contact with him.

The meeting also paid attention to the strengthening of the distribution system of oxygen and other gases in the territories; and to the continuity of actions to support Cupet by other organizations in the distribution of fuels, as well as the implementation and control of compliance with the organizational measures for its commercialization.

The measures aimed at facing the current energy situation and reducing the effects on the water supply by different methods were addressed; as well as the control of compliance with the plan for programmed effects on the electrical service and the permanent updating of information for the population.

(By: Rene Tamayo)

Dr. Francisco Durán García, national director of Epidemiology at the Ministry of Public Health, during one of his recent daily press conferences, providing updated information on the status of the SARS-COV-2 epidemic in the country and around the world.

This is a specialty to which the ministry attaches great importance, he added, especially in medical schools, where progress in training new epidemiologists in all provinces is regularly monitored.

“In Havana, for example, 276 doctors who have already graduated in General Comprehensive Medicine are now receiving exhaustive training in hygiene and epidemiology, in addition to 42 residents.

He stressed the importance of developing epidemiological thinking among health care personnel, since the technical elements are not exclusive to one or another specialty.

“This knowledge is useful for all public health professionals. When a clinician, a pediatrician or an obstetrician-gynecologist sees a patient with a certain symptomatology, he or she must think about the social factors that may affect the health problem, which may or may not be infectious,” he concluded.

(Source: Granma)

Just over 19 weeks pregnant, but asymptomatic, the patient was admitted to the Ciro Redondo Hospital in the city of Artemisa as a precautionary measure, where a test for the Zika virus was taken and sent to the Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK). From the very beginning, all epidemiological and vector control measures established for such cases were undertaken.

On March 22, the IPK laboratory confirmed that the Real-Time PCR test conducted on admittance to hospital had proven positive for the Zika virus. The patient continues to be asymptomatic.

We reiterate the importance of complying with all sanitation measures in order to reduce infestation levels of Aedes mosquitoes, and thus prevent the risk of transmission of diseases (dengue, Chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever) to the population.

The patient began to experience an itchy rash and swelling and pain in her left hand that same day. On the 25th she was admitted to the CeliaSánchez Manduley Hospital, where a test for the Zika virus was taken and sent to the Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK).

From the very beginning, all epidemiological and vector control measures established for such cases were undertaken.

On March 2, the IPK laboratory confirmed that the Real-Time PCR test conducted on admittance to hospital had proven positive for the Zika virus.

The patient is at present asymptomatic and showing signs of good health.

(Granma)

On March 2, the Cuban Ministry of Public Health reported that the first imported case of Zika virus had been detected in a 28 year old Venezuelan doctor, who remains quarantined with a further 37 high risk individuals. Given this situation, health authorities are increasing vigilance efforts and examining all individuals suffering from non-specific fever. Controls have also been strengthened at entry and exit points to the country as well as airports.

28 imported cases of chikungunya were detected in 2015, while reports of dengue were registered in 55 municipalities, predominantly in the most densely populated zones across the island’s 15 provinces, demonstrating the high risk of infection to the population.

Although Cuba has been working intensely over the last month to eradicate the aedes aegypti mosquito, unsatisfactory fumigation efforts, adverse environmental and weather conditions and a lack of cooperation by the population, have contributed to continuing high levels of infestation.
In the call made by President Raúl Castro, February 22, 2016, to prevent the spread of Zika, he highlighted that the Party and government leadership has adopted an action plan – carried out by MINSAP – to combat the vectors.

Tasks include extreme vigilance to reduce environmental risks; the strengthening of sanitary controls at entrance and exit points to the country; guaranteeing medical and hygienic-epidemiological attention; progressively training public health workers in control and prevention measures; as well as conducting a comprehensive public awareness campaign, instructing the population in timely control and further prevention measures.

Dr. Roberto Morales Ojeda, minister of Public Health, highlighted the importance of applying biolarvacides to water containers in all homes and communal areas; carrying out various cycles of aerial and home-to-home fumigation; keeping roof terraces, basements, elevator shafts, areas of rust deposits, glens, rivers and water areas clean; keeping potable water tanks covered; repairing leaks in health facilities; as well as providing the population with products to eradicate mosquitoes.

Such efforts are being supported by an additional 9,000 Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) personnel, and over 200 National Revolutionary Police (PNR) officials, all equipped with the technical means to advance anti-mosquito and sanitization efforts.

“The participation of the armed forces,” noted the minister “will be decisive in this intensive stage given their discipline and organization. Their efforts also demonstrate to the population that effective efforts to eliminate mosquitoes and their breeding sites are being carried out.”

Morales Ojeda stressed the importance of community participation to tackle environmental hazards, with an emphasis on personal vigilance noting that those who fail to cooperate with sanitation efforts will be heavily penalized.

Tourists and visitors arriving to Cuba are being requested to submit a Health Statement at entry and exit points to the country, while stringent vigilance measures are also being applied in order to identify individuals with symptoms of the aforementioned diseases, and ensure their admittance to medical institutions for treatment. Cuban collaborators serving abroad are also being closely monitored and undergoing regular temperature checks, while those working in African countries are required to present up-to-date vaccination certificates.

Although there is no proven link between the Zika virus and microcephaly in newborns, Dr. Roberto Álvarez Fumero, head of MINSAP’s Maternal-Infant Program, has advised pregnant women to visit their family doctor as soon as possible in order to start the pregnancy checks and maternity-infant monitoring processes, which will “enable them to benefit from pre-natal controls,” he stated.
In order to improve immune defense, the pediatric specialist recommends women of child-bearing age take folic acid, whether they are trying for a baby or not. He also explains that Cuban medical services are extending precautions to pregnant women presenting with fever or who live in areas with high levels of the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

One such measure includes performing the third trimester ultrasound at 28 weeks (in Cuba the first ultrasound is performed in the first 12 weeks and the second between 18 and 22 weeks) as well as a 15 day check-up performed by specialists.

The doctor also advised intermittent consultations by generic specialists to be carried out on newborns identified as suspected cases, in order to rule out other possible causes, as well as virological studies. The information obtained from these investigations is available to international organizations, noted the MINSAP official.

Álvarez Fumero states that the Cuban healthcare system, and in particular its Maternal-Infant Program, are ready and able to detect infection in a timely manner and thus reduce the risk of microcephaly.

The region is facing a complex epidemiological situation given the spread of the Zika virus, and as such Cuba is carrying out efforts to prevent infection and reduce infestation rates, an immense task for this first half of the year.

(Granma)

The patient awoke on February 22 with a fever of 37.5 degrees, by the evening of the 23rd the young doctor had begun to experience joint pain with a rash also appearing on her face and torso. On the 24th she was admitted to the Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine, where she is currently hospitalized. She has been free from fever since her admittance, is currently showing signs of good health with no trace of conjunctivitis, while the rash has begun to fade.

The patient reported that her husband had been clinically diagnosed with Zika two months ago while her brother-in-law had contracted the virus two weeks prior to her departure.

On February 25 the results of a CRP blood test taken on the patient’s admittance to hospital proved negative for Zika; however given the patient’s symptoms and epidemiological background the test was repeated on February 28, with the results proving positive for the Zika virus on February 29th.

The other Venezuelan professionals are currently being monitored, although none have presented symptoms thus far.

(Granma)