Cuba promotes a national genetic study in the face of variability in the clinical evolution of COVID-19 patients.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- The research - which also includes immunological and molecular approaches - will try to find an explanation for many manifestations reflected in people who have suffered the pandemic.
The new investigation focuses on three pilot provinces to explore this area of the Medical Sciences: Las Tunas, in the east; Cienfuegos, in the center; and Pinar del Río, in the west.
"We seek the clinical, immunological and genetic characterization of the Cuban population; the population genetic structure will be accessed through the country's specialized network. Why does COVID-19 manifest in one way in some patients and not in others? This will be part of the responses that the study pursues,” said Dr. Nora María Orive Rodríguez, director of the Provincial Department of Medical Genetics.
The survey is going through its first stage: the review of the medical records of the residents who in this territory have been diagnosed positive for SARS-CoV-2.
The specialist points out that they focus on Cuban cases. In total, 16 patients with epidemiological discharge are included in the investigation. After the preliminary pilot results, the experience will be extended to the rest of the nation.
The initial step of obtaining the medical data began at the Dr. Fermín Valdés Domínguez military hospital, in Holguín, because in that institution, responsible for caring for people who tested positive for the virus, the medical records of the study sample are kept. The experts Aldo Cortés González (epidemiologist) and Lázaro Pérez Escribano (specialist in Intensive Care and Emergencies) accompanied Dr. Orive to the neighboring province.
“The investigation has a second phase. Over the next few days, in the field, we will take blood samples from the patients who were infected, and relatives of the first degree of blood relationship that tested negative. We intend to approach the particular genetic and immunological characteristics of Cuban populations, in search of scientific answers to the variability in the clinical evolution of people who have suffered from the new coronavirus,“ the geneticist said.
"There are four groups characterized by the presence of the disease in the national territory: those who tested positive without symptoms; those with slight symptoms; with symptoms and evolution to severity, and group zero or control," she added.
Behind the doors of the "Fermín Valdés Domínguez" security and confidence in recovery are discovered. Five admission wards and another one dedicated to Intensive Care complete a total of 130 capacities for positives or suspects of suffering from COVID-19.
“We modify all our healthcare dynamics. This was a center intended to serve only adults. Since we were given the task of assuming those infected with SARS-CoV-2, we have created a flow of medical care also for children, pregnant women, postpartum women and the elderly. Our staff complies with the epidemiological rules, and there has been the key to success: a job with extreme sanitary control and a lot of love.
"Today we are pleased to collaborate with our professional brothers in Las Tunas for this important genetic study, which will allow specialists, and the whole nation, to learn more about the manifestations of the pandemic," said Lt. Col. Dr. Milagros Mekin Guerra, director of that medical institution, visibly committed.
The country is already betting on the first results of the research, which has one of its trails in Las Tunas. With the correct scientific vision, it will be possible to know in greater depth about the singularities of the new coronavirus that has rocked the world during 2020.
