Specialists from the Ministry of Public Health (Minsap) acknowledge that Havana is facing a "critical situation" due to arboviruses, although there are no precise figures on infections in municipalities like Marianao, one of the most affected by dengue and chikungunya.
According to a report from the Canal Habana, in the municipality of Marianao, “exact cases are not being counted, which is concerning due to the epidemiological complexity,” something that hinders a clear understanding of the magnitude of the outbreak.
Local health authorities acknowledged that the capital is going through a "complex" phase, characterized by an increase in fever cases and the overload of health services.
According to Juan Ariel Reyes, the general director of Health in the capital municipality, together with authorities at various levels, it has been possible to incorporate workers from companies, the government, and the Communist Party into two brigades: one for adult mosquito control and another for localized treatment and larviciding, in addition to assisting with data collection.
He added that this has helped them to "identify the areas with the highest movement of fever cases and delineate quadrants in the health zones, which is the foundation of our weekly work."
For her part, the municipal director of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Caridad Pérez, stated that “at this moment we are decreasing the number of febrile cases compared to the previous month,” although she did not provide figures to corroborate the statement.
He referred to the deployment of adulticide treatment brigades, indoor fumigation, and quadrant survey campaigns aimed at trying to curb the advance of mosquitoes.
The fumigation efforts are focused on the popular councils of Zamora-Coco Solo, Pocito-Palmar, Pogolotti-Santa Felicia, and Libertad, prioritizing areas with the highest "movement of fevers."
The Minsap has emphasized the importance of early detection. “At the first symptom, the citizen should go to the nearest doctor or polyclinic,” stated Leonor Cortázar, Deputy General Director of Medical Assistance in Marianao.
He emphasized that children under two years old and pregnant women should be referred immediately to specialized hospitals, while patients with comorbidities require close monitoring.
Despite the call for prevention, there is growing concern among the population about the lack of transparency and official data.
The lack of concrete figures prevents us from understanding the magnitude of the outbreak and assessing the effectiveness of the measures implemented.
In several neighborhoods of the capital, residents report that fumigation is irregular and that mosquito breeding sites persist in critical areas, exacerbated by the accumulation of garbage, the scarcity of drinking water, and poor waste management.
Dengue and chikungunya cases have surged in Camagüey, where health authorities describe the increase as “exponential” and warn that the municipalities of Florida, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, and the provincial capital account for the majority of infections.
The central province of Sancti Spíritus is also experiencing an alarming increase in dengue cases and a rising circulation of chikungunya, the official newspaper Granma recently admitted.
The Deputy Minister of Public Health, Carilda Peña García, confirmed days ago the presence of more than 20,000 cases of chikungunya in Cuba, as well as a significant increase in dengue and other arboviral diseases.
The most affected provinces - Havana, Camagüey, Cienfuegos, Artemisa, and Villa Clara - account for 62% of the Aedes aegypti mosquito hotspots.
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