Visits suspended in Santa Clara prison due to tuberculosis outbreak

The inmates of the Pretensado prison, in the city of Santa Clara, Villa Clara, have had family visits suspended due to an outbreak of tuberculosis; reported the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights.

"There is great concern among family members because there are no medications to treat them," that organization, based in Madrid, wrote on Twitter.

CyberCuba He has not been able to confirm this information with official sources, because the prisons are controlled by the Ministry of the Interior.

Relatives of the political prisoner Andy Garcia Lorenzo, who is serving his sentence in La Pendiente, another prison in that province, explained to this medium that they recently limited access to the inmates' families due to health problems.

"Recently there was an outbreak of hepatitis and they didn't let anyone visit. They did allow food, but no meetings with family. Andy was also sick with dengue, so it took longer than others," explained his brother-in-law. Jonathan Lopez.

The young man, who currently lives in a refugee camp in Germany, said he did not know if there was this tuberculosis outbreak, but he was not surprised that it was so, because the unhealthiness that exists in Cuban prisons.

In March it was reported an outbreak of tuberculosis in the Eastern Combinado, Havana, where several prisoners were quarantined as a preventive measure.

The Cuban authorities did not confirm or deny the statements of activist Marcel Valdés, who announced the alleged epidemiological situation.

Tuberculosis is a disease caused by bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which usually attacks the lungs, but can also attack parts of the body, such as the kidneys, spine, and brain. If not treated properly, it can be fatal. In the past, it was the leading cause of death in the United States, the researchers explain. CDC on their website.

The most common treatment is "the combination of isoniazid, rifampicin and pyrazinamide during the first two months and then continued for four more months with isoniazid and rifampicin," according to the University of Navarra Clinic.