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The Cuban doctor Miguel Alejandro Guerra Domínguez reported on social media serious shortcomings in the care of dengue patients at the Hospital Territorial de Cárdenas in the province of Matanzas, where —according to him— the basic tests necessary to diagnose and properly monitor the disease are not being conducted.
“I suspect that I have dengue, and as is well taught from the third year of medical school, the basic and essential complementary tests for the evaluation and monitoring of this disease are: complete blood count, hematocrit, and platelets. These are not optional; they are mandatory,” the doctor stated.
Guerra Domínguez assured that at the hospital in Cárdenas, these minimum tests are not being conducted, which puts the patients' lives at risk.
"Isn't dengue an emergency? Doesn't thrombocytopenia or hemoconcentration that goes undetected in time put the patient's life at risk?", he questioned.
The professional described this situation as a “complete lack of respect for patients and for the medical practice,” and held both the hospital administration and the doctors accountable, as he stated that they have normalized the absence of these essential studies.
A hospital that refuses to perform the minimum required tests for a potentially fatal disease is simply failing in its duty. And the most regrettable part: all the doctors working there, by accepting and normalizing this situation, become complicit in this healthcare disaster, he wrote in his complaint.
Dengue, transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, has seen a surge in several Cuban provinces amid the health crisis and the decline of hospital services.
Early diagnosis and monitoring of parameters such as platelets, hematocrit, and leukogram are crucial to avoid severe complications like hemorrhages or multiple organ failures.
“I don’t speak as just another patient: I am a physician, I know what I’m saying, and I find it outrageous that I was told they couldn’t perform a leukogram, hematocrit, or platelet count,” emphasized Guerra Domínguez.
The precariousness of hospital services in Cuba and the lack of resources to combat dengue in a context of epidemiological crisis threaten to worsen in the coming weeks, following the declaration of high transmission rates of dengue and Chikungunya in several regions of the country.
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