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IPK: Strength in Cuba for prevention and confrontation with COVID-19

Nurses in room E of the IPK, duly protected for the management of any patient with an infectious disease. Photo: Irene Pérez / Cubadebate.

Amid the tense health situation in the world, given the spread of the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease, Cuba has reinforced its epidemiological surveillance measures at all levels of the health system and international health control.

Having a reference institution for research, diagnosis, management and treatment of infectious diseases, such as the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK), constitutes in this scenario a strength for the Island, which deployed a broad plan of measures with a view to reducing the risk of the virus entering the country and its dissemination in the national territory.

“Our center is prepared to receive patients who have any symptoms from a clinical and epidemiological point of view. In fact, we have received patients under surveillance. Eight specific samples have been taken and analyzed for COVID-19 that have been negative, ”said Dr. Manuel Romero Placeres, director of the IPK.

According to the specialist, in the laboratories of this center the diagnosis is made for 17 respiratory viruses, 16 which are usually monitored throughout the country, plus the new coronavirus.

He added that from the IPK “the laboratories of the Provincial Center of Hygiene and Microbiology of Villa Clara, and Santiago de Cuba have been prepared and trained in this specific diagnosis.”

Dr. Manuel Romero Placeres, director of the IPK. Photo: Irene Pérez / Cubadebate.

The IPK is an institution that has been systematically prepared for different types of communicable diseases such as cholera, dengue, Zika, among others. We are currently preparing for the confrontation of acute respiratory disease COVID-19, Romero Placeres said.

In this regard, and although there are no confirmed cases in the country, he drew attention to the fact that as a respiratory infection, the population must be alert and aware of their health care, and that of others, before the appearance of any symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat and malaise, similar to those of other types of flu that occur frequently in the population.

A total of 160 beds are available at the institution to face a possible scenario of the virus entering the national territory, said the specialist. “We are also preparing to receive cases of children or pregnant women who may be suspected of this disease. We have 20 beds available for these groups, the rest is for adult patients, men and women who may suffer from COVID-19 ”.

“It has been training all staff, strengthening biosecurity for the fight against respiratory diseases,” he said. The critical route, which has been explained through the different means, is that some patient can be received from their entry through ports, airports, marinas or hospitals, which have some suspicious symptoms. These are taken to an isolation center, premises that are designed throughout the country for this purpose and then moved to the reference hospitals for each region, Romero Placeres explained.

All the Institute staff is prepared and has means of protection. Photo: Irene Pérez / Cubadebate.

Regarding the sampling, he said that the province of Santiago de Cuba will receive samples from all over the east of the country and the laboratory of Villa Clara, from the center of the national territory, remaining for the IPK throughout the west, in addition to references from These two other laboratories.

The laboratories are equipped and have the necessary means to diagnose the disease, which have been provided by the Ministry of Public Health and the Pan American Health Organization, the specialist reiterated.

In them, he said, a diagnosis can be made for 17 viruses, such as Influenza A and B, and respiratory syncytial virus, because at this time of the year what most frequently occurs in the country is the increase in acute respiratory infections, although they show a tendency to decrease with respect to previous years.

“Other types of coronaviruses are also diagnosed that have nothing to do with COVID-19,” he said. For the transfer of the samples, rigorous protocols related to packaging and how both health personnel and the entire population are protected to reach the diagnosis of this disease have been established.

The laboratories are equipped and have the necessary means to diagnose the disease. Photo: Irene Pérez / Cubadebate.

Maximum security: Triple packing

According to the interviewee, the respiratory sample is taken as nasal and pharyngeal exudate. “It has an attachment that is similar to a tube, where after taking the sample with all the biosecurity precautions that the technician or laboratory professional must have to perform this operation, introduce these two swabs into that tube. That would be the first protective packaging of this sample. ”

The second package is prepared with a nylon and cotton, paper, a material that makes it possible to surround the test tube that contains this exudate sample and that can retain the content if any spillage occurs. The nylon is sealed and also placed vertically in another package, which is a bag where the sample will be transported to the laboratories for the determination of the different respiratory viruses.

According to the director of the IPK, samples are taken between the first and the seventh day, preferably between the third and fifth. “These samples are collected in any case that has criteria of being suspicious and being monitored for its symptoms and that it is a patient who comes from some of the countries where there are cases and transmission of this disease: China, Iran, Italy , Japan, among others.

Romero Placeres added that the IPK continues to do its usual work activities for other types of diseases, such as care for people living with HIV, patients with tuberculosis, or some type of arbovirosis and we are preparing for the confrontation of this new disease. “We have already developed the Plan to face the possible entry of COVID-19, which we hope will not happen, but if it happens we are ready for it,” he said.

The action protocols to follow with the possible suspicious cases are established. Photo: Irene Pérez / Cubadebate.

The IPK has molecular virology laboratories and specific diagnostic means for COVID-19. Photo: Irene Pérez / Cubadebate.

National Update Course on Prevention and Control of the new Coronavirus COVID-19. Photo: Irene Pérez / Cubadebate.

In the IPK laboratories the diagnosis is made for 17 respiratory viruses, 16 which are usually monitored throughout the country, plus the new coronavirus. Photo: Irene Pérez / Cubadebate.

Dr. Eric Martínez Torres, of the IPK. Photo: Irene Pérez / Cubadebate.

The IPK is a reference institution for research, diagnosis, management and treatment of infectious diseases. Photo: Irene Pérez / Cubadebate.

In the IPK laboratories the diagnosis is made for 17 respiratory viruses, 16 which are usually monitored throughout the country, plus the new coronavirus. Photo: Irene Pérez / Cubadebate.

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