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Santa Clara authorities recognize about 900 cases of dengue


A municipal employee sprays as prevention against dengue.
A municipal employee sprays as prevention against dengue.

Most outbreaks were found in private homes, where residents use any type of container available to store water due to inconsistent hydraulic supply.

Data on patients in the province of Villa Clara were given by Vice Provincial Government of Santa Clara, Alberto López Díaz, on local radio station CMQ. He acknowledged the existence of an epidemic of dengue and disorganization in the campaign of prevention and control of the epidemiological situation in that part of Cuba.

Independent journalist Yoel Espinosa Medrano, in telephone contact with the program Avanza Cuba , Radio Martí, corroborated the statements of the official, who even offered the audience figures of 700infected patients infected and about 900 confirmed cases in the capital provincial.

Espinosa Medrano insisted that the increase in the number of patients is due to the insalubrity in town: lack of water supply to households, damaged water networks and water storage in inappropriate containers that facilitate proliferation of the mosquito Aedes aegypti.

Most outbreaks were found in private homes, where residents use any type of container to store water due to inconsistent hydraulic supply.

López Díaz criticized the poor handling of the campaign, lack of manpower and lack of control of resources as factors that have led to the current situation.

Among the measures López Díaz mentioned to solve the spread of these diseases are the integration of mass organizations with public health, fines, and increased rigor in compliance. He also announced investments in 2014 to fix the battered system of hydraulic networks.

However, in the independent communicator’s opinion, while the battered state of water networks and poor water supply in Villa Clara, and Cuba in general, isn’t resolved, the situation could only get worse.

Espinosa Medrano also said authorities took too long to communicate clearly to the people of the epidemiological situation. They never released the number of people who got sick or died. They didn’t even call the disease by name; it was merely classified as acute diarrheal diseases.

Poor reporting prevented Cubans from becoming aware of the seriousness of the matter.
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