Chikungunya and Dengue Claim Lives of 21 Children in Crisis-Stricken Cuba

Twenty-one children are among 33 people who have died in Cuba from the mosquito-borne chikungunya and dengue viruses since July, authorities announced on Monday.

Most of the fatalities were linked to chikungunya — a disease marked by fever and severe joint pain that is usually debilitating but rarely fatal — while the flu-like dengue accounted for 12 deaths, according to Deputy Health Minister Carilda Peña, who spoke on state television.

The chikungunya virus first appeared in Cuba’s western Matanzas province in July but rapidly spread across all 15 provinces of the nation, home to 9.7 million people.

At the same time, the island has been grappling with a dengue outbreak that emerged amid shortages of clean water, food, fuel and medicine during one of the country’s worst economic crises in decades.

Cuba, long recognised for its medical and pharmaceutical capabilities, had previously managed to swiftly contain a chikungunya outbreak in 2014.

This time, officials reported that the situation spiralled out of control due to “lack of hygiene, accumulated rubbish” and widespread water storage in tanks as people struggled with irregular access to clean tap water.

With the country under US sanctions and its vital tourism industry devastated by Covid, a shortage of foreign currency has severely affected Cuba’s medical services and preventative programmes, including mosquito fumigation.

Khaborwala/SS