Dengue 3 Epidemic, Havana, 2001

In June 2001, dengue transmission was detected in Havana, Cuba; 12,889 cases were reported. Dengue 3, the etiologic agent of the epidemic, caused the dengue hemorrhagic fever only in adults, with 78 cases and 3 deaths. After intensive vector control efforts, no new cases have been detected

West Nile Virus Infection in Humans and Horses, Cuba

A surveillance system to detect West Nile virus (WNV) was established in Cuba in 2002. WNV infection was confirmed by serologic assays in 4 asymptomatic horses and 3 humans with encephalitis in 2003 and 2004. These results are the first reported evidence of WNV activity in Cuba

Dengue contingency planning: from research to policy and practice

Background Dengue is an increasingly incident disease across many parts of the world. In response, an evidence-based handbook to translate research into policy and practice was developed. This handbook facilitates contingency planning as well as the development and use of early warning and response systems for dengue fever epidemics, by identifying decision-making processes that contribute to the success or failure of dengue surveillance, as well as triggers that initiate effective responses to incipient outbreaks. Methodology/Principal findings Available evidence was evaluated using a step-wise process that included systematic literature reviews, policymaker and stakeholder interviews, a study to assess dengue contingency planning and outbreak management in 10 countries, and a retrospective logistic regression analysis to identify alarm signals for an outbreak warning system using datasets from five dengue endemic countries. Best practices for managing a dengue outbreak are provided for key elements of a dengue contingency plan including timely contingency planning, the importance of a detailed, context-specific dengue contingency plan that clearly distinguishes between routine and outbreak interventions, surveillance systems for outbreak preparedness, outbreak definitions, alert algorithms, managerial capacity, vector control capacity, and clinical management of large caseloads. Additionally, a computer-assisted early warning system, which enables countries to identify and respond to context-specific variables that predict forthcoming dengue outbreaks, has been developed. Conclusions/Significance Most countries do not have comprehensive, detailed contingency plans for dengue outbreaks. Countries tend to rely on intensified vector control as their outbreak response, with minimal focus on integrated management of clinical care, epidemiological, laboratory and vector surveillance, and risk communication. The Technical Handbook for Surveillance, Dengue Outbreak Prediction/ Detection and Outbreak Response seeks to provide countries with evidence-based best practices to justify the declaration of an outbreak and the mobilization of the resources required to implement an effective dengue contingency plan

infoMED TesisDr: ¿un servicio o un repositorio?

Letter to the edito

Detección de IgM contra el virus del dengue en sangre entera absorbida en papel de filtro

En este trabajo se presenta la normalización del procedimiento de detección de anticuerpos IgM contra el virus del dengue en muestras de sangre tomadas en papel de filtro. Las muestras se obtuvieron de 118 pacientes, de los cuales 91 tenían un diagnóstico clínico de dengue y 27 un diagnóstico de una infección viral que no guardaba relación con esa enfermedad, siendo los primeros originarios de Costa Rica y Nicaragua y de Cuba los segundos. En todas las muestras se determinó la presencia de anticuerpos IgM contra el virus del dengue mediante un inmunoensayo enzimático (ELISA) de captura. Al analizarse en su conjunto los resultados de los pacientes de los tres países se determinaron una sensibilidad y especificidad de 98,1% y 98,5%, respectivamente, para la prueba efectuada con sangre entera en papel de filtro conservada a 4 °C, y una concordancia de 96% entre los resultados de esa prueba y los del ELISA. Cuando se compararon los resultados obtenidos con las tres muestras de un mismo paciente --las de sangre en papel de filtro conservadas a la temperatura ambiental y a 4 °C, y la del suero correspondiente-- también se obtuvo una concordancia de 86%. Este estudio demuestra la elevada sensibilidad y especificidad diagnósticas logradas con el procesamiento de sangre entera absorbida en papel de filtro en las condiciones detalladas en el artículo. Los autores recomiendan utilizar este método en los programas de vigilancia de dengue en la Región

Usabilidad: la evaluación de los servicios en el entorno Web.

The place of the usability studies as a part of the process of evaluation of the services in the Web environment is analyzed. Starting from the definitions of evaluation and from the different proposed models, the stages that methodologically compose this process are clarified. The main aspects that distinguish the evaluation of the Web services are approached, and the usability studies are taken as a reference, based on the fact that these studies are part of the evaluation process of the services that implement two in the Web

Dengue, one of the great emerging health challenges of the 21st century

Meeting: International Congress on Dengue and Yellow Fever, 2nd, 31 May-3 June, 2004, Havana, C