Viral Surge and Hidden Figures: Underreporting Masks True Scale of Dengue and Chikungunya Outbreak in Las Tunas

The rapid escalation of unspecified febrile syndromes combined with the concurrent spread of dengue and chikungunya places Las Tunas among the most affected provinces in Cuba, as revealed by recent data from the Ministry of Public Health.

Yumara Acosta García, the acting General Director of Health, admitted that the area is experiencing a "rise" in both fever syndromes and confirmed cases, especially in four municipalities, with an epidemiological burden that is outpacing control efforts.

The most challenging situations are found in the health areas of the provincial capital, Puerto Padre, Majibacoa, and Amancio. The provincial newspaper 26 also reported an upward trend in Colombia and Jobabo.

Acosta noted that part of the increase is due to a shift in community screening, as many individuals remained at home without reporting symptoms, leading to a significant underreporting issue.

The involvement of the Medical Sciences University and other stakeholders has brought hidden cases to light, prompting targeted surveillance and vector control actions.

Currently, the region is in the second stage of adulticide treatment, aiming to cover 100% of urban zones within the week, with a focus on high-risk residential blocks.

However, the directive stressed that no strategy will be effective without family-based focal point control; without eliminating breeding sites, the hatching of infected eggs will continue to spread the virus.

Nevertheless, Acosta refrained from addressing the lack of governmental oversight and poor management concerning garbage collection, sewage disposal, and persistent leaks in the water infrastructure.

In hospitals, service reorganization prioritizes newborns, pregnant women, and infants, with strict protocols in pediatrics and bed-to-bed monitoring at the Ernesto Guevara general teaching hospital.

All pregnant women showing symptoms are being admitted, particularly those near term, due to the transplacental transmission of chikungunya.

Newborns are tested with PCR at birth and monitored afterward. Puerto Padre will regionally accommodate patients from Jesús Menéndez, while facilities are being prepared for asymptomatic pregnant women in active transmission areas, the source highlighted.

Acosta warned that infants under two years old must be mandatorily admitted to the pediatric hospital because many families cannot identify warning signs.

Additionally, health areas are monitoring all high-risk children daily.

Authorities emphasized raising risk awareness since dengue can be fatal if not treated promptly, and chikungunya can cause severely debilitating conditions.

The delay in seeking medical attention is leading to severe complications among those over 65 and children, groups already experiencing critical cases, reported the press.

The sector claims to have created "basic conditions" to respond, but underscores that personal responsibility is crucial to preventing an epidemiological collapse.

The scenario highlights a contradiction rarely acknowledged by authorities: the outbreak isn't emerging "from nowhere" but rather from a baseline that was never accurately measured.

Underreporting not only distorted the actual curve but also delayed critical interventions, allowing arboviruses to spread before control responses were activated.

The province is not simply experiencing a resurgence; it is grappling with the accumulated gap between effective transmission and the state's ability to detect it in time.

In this regard, the official press in Ciego de Ávila recently acknowledged that institutions reacted late to the current arbovirus crisis when neighborhoods were already reporting illnesses, in addition to failures in epidemiological surveillance and sanitation that allowed the mosquito vector to thrive unchecked.

Similarly, health authorities in Holguín admitted to shortcomings in mosquito prevention efforts, while the province faces a complex epidemiological situation with three municipalities in the epidemic phase.

The General Directorate of Health in Sancti Spíritus acknowledged at a press conference the death of two individuals this year due to dengue and chikungunya, including one pediatric case, without specifying the exact age.

Last week, the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) reported 33 deaths from mosquito-borne diseases, with 21 attributed to chikungunya and 12 to dengue, according to official data released by state media. Most of the victims were minors.

However, a report by the Cuban Conflict Observatory (OCC) and the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba documents at least 87 deaths linked to the arbovirus epidemic across the island between October and November 2025.