The Ministry of Public Health reports this Saturday (August 20) that the first case of monkeypox has been reported in Cuba.
In a statement to the population shared by the official journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso, they point out that the first case of Monkeypox detected in the country has been confirmed.
The information was read as an informative note in the Cuban Television Newscast.
‼️First confirmed monkeypox patient in Cuba.
This is an Italian citizen who entered the country on August 15. We will expand later.
Source: Note of the @MINSAPCuba read on the NTV
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“This is a male patient, of Italian nationality, who arrived in Cuba as a tourist on August 15 of this year. During his stay, he has stayed in a rented house and visited several places in the western provinces of the country, ”indicate the authorities.
Regarding the patient, they clarify that “on August 17 he presented general symptoms and went to the health services on the 18th due to their persistence.”
“During the first medical care provided, the symptoms worsened, for which he required urgent transfer for hospitalization and intensive treatment, arriving at the hospital in cardiac arrest, from which he recovered,” the statement said.
When treated and during the “physical examination, skin lesions that clinically suspect monkeypox are identified, samples are taken and sent to the National Reference Laboratory of the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine, where the infection is confirmed by PCR in time. real in the early morning of the 20th, ”says the note, where they do not clarify why the case has been disclosed until now.
The patient is in danger to his life, the health authorities said.
“The patient is in critical condition, with danger to his life. Possible associated causes that may have conditioned the severity of it are studied, ”they detail.
The Ministry of Public Health also warned that “the epidemiological investigation is deepened and the focus control actions are carried out, as provided in the approved protocol to deal with this disease in the country.”
Last July, the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) said that eestablished a group of actions aimed at preventing and dealing with the risk spread of monkeypox.
The MINSAP established the measures in the face of the epidemiological threat caused by the disease declared as “a global health emergency” by the World Health Organization (WHO).
According to local authorities, “epidemiological surveillance was reinforced at the points of entry into the country” (although the Italian patient reported this day was not detected when he entered the sick island), and health personnel were trained to detect of suspected cases.
Dr. Carilda Peña, Deputy Minister of Public Health of Cuba, added that the care flowchart for patients with suspected disease was also defined, the focus control measures were established, and the care units were defined for the care of cases with the illness.
On the other hand, biosafety standards were established for patients, family members and service providers, taking into account the level of contagiousness and the way in which this pathology spreads,