October 05, 2006

Dengue Fever in Cuba - Where are the travel warnings?


Back in August I posted about Dengue Fever in Cuba. A Canadian tourist just back from the island left a comment:

I just came back from Cuba, and contracted Dengue as a tourist. I was eaten alive by mosquitoes at a 5* resort. I had to seek immediate medical care being apparently allergic to their bites as well. This is apparently common. I did not expect Dengue in addition to the allergic reaction, nor did I have any knowledge of the risk.

The least they can do is warn tourists to bring DEET repellant (and/or provide it, especially at that level of resort!). I'm sure the WHO would not be pleased with the way this is being handled.

I am lucky to have been in good health prior to this experience, and will undoubtedly recover once it has run its course. In the meantime, ironically, I was there to deliver humanitarian medical aid from Canada, and made plans to return to do the same in another 1.5 weeks. Our volunteers doing the same have little to no knowledge of the extent of the problem... so can you imagine what little other tourists know, let alone how to protect themselves? You are correct, once the word gets out, the one mainstay of the Cuban economy will be gone. I will not be the one to spread that word aside from this post, since the ones who inevitably suffer are the Cuban people. It's a catch-22.

Hsweet from Canada

If tourists staying in 5 star resorts are getting sick, just imagine how severe the situation is for the average Cuban.


Posted by Ziva at October 5, 2006 01:12 AM

Comments

Very well put Ziva. My assumption is that if tourists are being this affected, that the local population is under extreme threat. While it is possible that they may have greater immunity, I learned from others under similar humanitarian missions that schools are being turned into clinics in Havana. My contact was there for 4 weeks, and horrified.
I think it is far more horrific to be a citizen there, and likely have the same lack of knowledge (or less?) about the situation as we do from a foreign country. Staff on the resort were begging for repellant as well since some were as 'yummy' as me, and reacting just as badly. Fortunately they have to wear long pants which is wise, and about as much aid as they were going to receive locally. But if they need 2-3 weeks off to recover from dengue, have a reaction like I did and need assistance from the toxin itself, and are given no resources to protect themselves, do they even have a job to come back to if they get sick or need help?

Posted by: hsweet [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 5, 2006 04:18 AM

I don't know why the word isn't out. I just picked this up from the US interest section in Havana:
Dengue Warning
From various sources of mine, children and the elderly have been the most victimized by this.

Posted by: hsilio [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 5, 2006 04:38 AM

Why should Cuba need "humanitarian MEDICAL help" if Cuba's HEALTHCARE is the best in Latin America?

Why doesn't Cuba recall back all its thirty thousand doctors from abroad to help the Cuban people?

Why should people in other countries matter more to the castro bros. than the Cuban people?

Are these "volunteers" certain that said "Humanitarian medical aid" is going towards the Cuban people? Are they allowed to administer/distribute it to the Cuban people themselves? If not, why not?

Food and medicine is not included in the U.S. embargo! Cuba can purchase ALL the medicine it needs. Money IS NOT an issue as we all know.

Cuban Exiles in the U.S. send YEARLY an estimated 700 Million $$$$ in medicine and remittances to Cuba. Exiles in other countries do so as well.

How many new hospitals (since 1959) are there in Cuba? Compared to hotels? When the population grows shouldn't hospitals grow as well?

Posted by: Firefly [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 5, 2006 06:48 AM

Typical socialist thinking - wants the government to supply his DEET - thinks the WHO actually cares about people.

What idiot doesn't have DEET in a tropical or semi-tropical area? I'm about 400 miles from Cuba and I keep a can of DEET in my truck - a can that I purchased myself.
juan

Posted by: Paxety [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 5, 2006 09:50 AM


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