SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Havana, Cuba April 2022, Vol 24, No 2
INTRODUCTION COVID-19 sequelae, or the short-, medium-, and long-term manifestations of the disease are under continuous study. There are currently few reports on the evolution of hematological variables following a demonstrated absence of SARS-CoV-2 after infection.
OBJECTIVE Identify hematological alterations in Cuban adults recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection, and their relation with disease severity.
METHODS We selected 348 persons recovered from COVID-19 residing in Havana, Cuba with an RT-PCR study negative for SARS-CoV-2 performed two weeks after hospital discharge; a structured survey was administered to obtain clinical–epidemiological data. Three groups were established according to COVID-19 clinical criteria: asymptomatic, mild/moderately symptomatic, and severely symptomatic, which, in turn, were divided according to hospital discharge date and blood sample collection date. We performed hemograms with differential leukocyte counts and compared results among groups. We then measured the associations between hematological variables, personal medical history, and relevant lifestyle habits (smoking).
RESULTS All hematological variables were within normal reference limits, although men from the group of severely ill patients had increased total leukocytes, neutrophils and lymphocytes, and decreased hemoglobin and eosinophils, which was also evident in those with a recovery time of 31–90 days.
CONCLUSIONS The relation between hematological variables and degree of clinical severity offers evidence as to persistence of systemic alterations (possibly inflammatory) associated with viral infection. Their identification and characterization can facilitate personalized patient followup and rehabilitation.
KEYWORDS COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, hematology, leukocytosis, neutrophils, eosinophils, Cuba
INTRODUCTION One year after WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, we found it useful to carry out a diagnosis of the situation in Latin America.
OBJECTIVES Examine the prevailing epidemiological panorama in mid-March 2021 in 16 countries in Latin America and the performance, over time, in the two countries with the best responses to their respective epidemics.
METHODS Using morbidity and mortality data, we compared the relative performance of each country under review and identified the two countries with the most successful responses to the pandemic. We used five indicators to analyze the course of each country’s performance during the pandemic throughout 2020: prevalence of active cases per million population; cumulative incidence rate in 7 days per 100,000 population; positivity rate over a 7-day period; percentage of recovered patients and crude mortality rate per 1,000,000 population.
RESULTS According to the performance indicators, Cuba was ranked highest, followed by Uruguay. Although figures remained within acceptable margins, both nations experienced notable setbacks in the first weeks of 2021, especially sharp in Uruguay.
CONCLUSIONS Any characterization of the situation is condemned to be short-lived due to the emergence of mutational variants; however, this analysis identified favorable sociodemographic characteristics in both nations, and in their health systems, which may offer possible explanations for the results we obtained.
KEYWORDS COVID-19, infodemic, Latin America, Uruguay, Cuba
