Multiple actions are being taken in Cuba to respond to the current epidemic facing the country, marked by the simultaneous circulation of several viruses, mainly chikungunya and dengue, which are keeping all levels of the National Health System active.
As part of the country's follow-up on this issue, on Wednesday afternoon, the President of the National Defense Council, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, held a new meeting with experts, scientists, and researchers on health issues, in which they examined several aspects that, from a scientific perspective, seek to reduce mosquito infestation rates, improve treatment protocols for arboviruses, and mitigate their effects on the population.
Lorena Vázquez Bello, first deputy director of the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK), stressed the importance of understanding the disease for the attending physician at the patient's bedside.
Although it is true that this is not a new disease, she said, and it first appeared in Cuba in 2014 with a small outbreak, its spread in recent months has led to the development of a greater number of clinical studies to expand knowledge about it.
As preliminary results of the evaluation of 32 patients treated at the IPK with a diagnosis of chikungunya, Vázquez Bello explained that it has been determined that, even though its clinical manifestations also appear in other diseases, the symptoms in the case of chikungunya differ in several aspects, such as fever.
According to his explanation, this symptom usually begins abruptly and very high, and is difficult to treat with antipyretics. It usually persists for about 72 hours, although sometimes it can last longer, often requiring hospitalization.
He also referred to arthralgia and arthritis, which are characteristic signs of the disease and are usually symmetrical and debilitating, with severe morning stiffness, mainly affecting the joints of the lower limbs, although those of the upper limbs are not excluded. Based on the study we have conducted, she added, it has been found that this is the first symptom of the onset of the disease, even before the appearance of fever.
Among the main complications in the patients evaluated at the IPK, the doctor mentioned dehydration; acute confusion in the elderly; associated bacterial sepsis; heart failure and arrhythmia; neurological complications; and gastrointestinal bleeding.
She assured that studies are continuing with new patients, the results of which will greatly contribute to strengthening protocols for action and improving the ability to deal with complications associated with the disease.
In addition to these actions, it was announced at the meeting that the Ministry of Public Health (Minsap) has continued to make progress in the development of studies and interventions to further refine the Cuban protocol for the clinical and epidemiological management of chikungunya, based on available information and new scientific evidence.
Ileana Morales Suárez, director of Science and Technological Innovation at Minsap, said that as part of the protocol, 26 studies related to product development have been approved, along with the launch of clinical studies and trials, complex health interventions, and other research, the results of which are key to advancing prevention, treatment, and patient care.
Morales Suárez added that experts are focusing primarily on studies of chronicity, due to joint discomfort that persists after the acute phase. In order to prevent and treat these types of symptoms, health interventions will be carried out in the most vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, among other actions. He said that in the coming days, the program will begin in several municipalities in Havana, targeting people over 75 years of age, and depending on the availability of resources, it will be extended to other areas of the country.
Also as part of the meeting, which was attended by Political Bureau member and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, information was provided on variants of tests that will be developed for the diagnosis of chikungunya in Cuba, as well as studies on the use of different products already available in the country, whose safety still needs to be demonstrated, and then their effect, in order to be incorporated into the care protocol, as is the case with the well-known Jusvinza, which is used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
Other products are being worked on quickly, including repellent and polivit, as well as, from the industry, the repair of bazookas for fumigation against the mosquitoes that cause these diseases.
These and other actions will continue to be monitored so that, through medical care, epidemiology, science, and the biopharmaceutical industry, the current epidemiological scenario can be counteracted and the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of arboviruses can be strengthened.
