Cuban Parliamentarians Assess the Country Epidemiological Scenario

Havana, July 20 (ACN) Cuban Health Minister Jose Angel Portal Miranda urged the people and state agencies to contribute to keeping the COVID-19 pandemic under control and prevent Dengue Fever from becoming an epidemic in the coming months.

Speaking at the Parliament’s Health and Sports Commission, during the 9th Session of the 9th Legislature, the minister referred to recently adopted actions to face COVID-19 and suggested that all vulnerable people should wear facemasks in crowded areas.

The detection in the country of all four Dengue Fever serotypes, with prevalence of serotypes 1, 2 and 3, increase the risk of suffering from the disease, he warned and noted that the joint action of all to eliminate the vector is significant in order to cut the transmission before September and November, which are the months most favorable to life cycle of the Aedes mosquito.

Deputy health minister Carilda Peña García briefed the lawmakers about the increase of Dengue Fever incidence from April to June with over 3 thousand detected cases, with the provinces of Holguin, Camaguey, Santiago –in the east--, Matanzas and Pinar del Rio—in the West—and Sancti Spiritus and Villa Clara—in the center—being the territories with the largest incidence of the disease.

In the face of the spread of Dengue not only in Cuba but also in the Americas, the doctor stressed the importance of actions in homes and institutions, bearing in mind that in June 65.3 percent ofthe mosquito breeding sites were detected in water deposits at home or work centers.
As to the COVID-19, the doctor said that July 20 marked the 70 days without deaths from that disease in Cuba, despite the increase of cases over the past few weeks.

Other conditions include the increase of acute diarrheal disease in central and eastern Cuba, while the country is free of cholera. Meanwhile, Cuba expects to fully eliminate TB in 2035 while the 82.6 percent recovery rate can be improved.

As to sexually transmitted diseases the expert said that Cuba eliminated the HIV mother-to-child transmission since 2015, and congenital syphilis. At present over 30 thousand persons are HIV patients, most of them residing in Havana and Santiago de Cuba.

Another two diseases on the international radar are monkey pox and severe acute hepatitis of unknown cause. None of them have been detected in Cuba, though the health system keeps surveillance and has actions to face them in case they enter Cuban territory.