More than a hundred people are in intensive care in Cuba due to complications arising from chikungunya and dengue, and most of the seriously ill patients are children under 18 years old.
Dr. Carilda Peña García, Deputy Minister of Public Health, acknowledged this Tuesday in the Buenos Días Magazine that health authorities still do not have exact data on the number of people suffering from arbovirosis on the island. “We hope to have more accurate figures by the end of this week,” she stated.
On Monday, 3,421 people with unspecified febrile syndrome were reported, and 90% of them (3,088) remain hospitalized, mostly in their homes.
In total, 105 patients remain in intensive care, of which 84 are in critical condition and 70 of them are under 18 years old.
Dr. Peña referred to these cases as young children or babies, without specifying their age. She highlighted the high vulnerability of the youngest to viruses transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti.
The dengue infections continue to rise. There has been a notable increase in Pinar del Río, where 105 new cases have been diagnosed. In the other provinces, sick individuals are also reported, although without precise figures.
Regarding chikungunya, the MINSAP reported that so far there have been 34,824 cases in Cuba, of which 33,796 are suspected and 1,028 have been confirmed through PCR tests.
On Monday, 934 new infections were reported, but only 78 were confirmed by the laboratory.
Dr. Peña explained that diagnoses are not carried out for the entire population, as PCR tests are only conducted in selected cases.
"The diagnoses of the disease are being made through clinical and epidemiological methods," said the deputy minister, urging sick individuals to consult a doctor.
The 856 recent suspected cases are concentrated in Cienfuegos, Holguín, Ciego de Ávila, and Artemisa. So far, no cases of the Oropouche virus have been detected in the country.
The transmission of chikungunya is present in 14 provinces and 100 municipalities in Cuba. Although Matanzas was the province where the epidemic began, authorities claim that there is currently "a better situation" there.
The deputy minister acknowledged that the fumigation plan and focal control were not achieved, primarily due to the lack of workforce in provinces like Havana and Camagüey. "If we don't eliminate the mosquito, it will be very difficult to control the epidemic," she warned.
The health crisis is worsening in a context of medical resource shortages, failures in sanitation programs, and a growing spread of the vector mosquito in several provinces, keeping Cuba under an active epidemic of chikungunya and dengue.
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