Abstract
This MEDICC Review roundtable brings you specialists from Havana's Pedro Kourí Tropical Medicine Institute (IPK), who are working directly with testing, research and patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Founded in 1937 by its namesake, the Institute has gained considerable worldwide prestige. Today, it is a PAHO-WHO Collaborating Center for the Study of Dengue and Its Vector, and for the Elimination of Tuberculosis. Its main role within Cuba's health system is as the national reference center for prevention, control, management and elimination of infectious diseases, including epidemics. Its 479 workers staff 32 departments, including laboratories, research and teach-ing facilities, a hospital and isolation center. The IPK's hospital treats later-stage AIDS patients, while the Institute is the nation-al reference center for attention to all HIV-positive patients and maintains the national HIV/AIDS registry, as well as registries for other infectious diseases. The institution was responsible for training the Cuban doctors who served in West Africa during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreaks and for those going abroad to assist in the COVID-19 response today, and its professionals offer an internationally-recognized biennial course on dengue.
Highlights
32 departments, including laboratories, research and teaching facilities, a hospital and isolation center
The institution was responsible for training the Cuban doctors who served in West Africa during the 2014–2016 Ebola outbreaks and for those going abroad to assist in the COVID-19 response today, and its professionals offer an internationally-recognized biennial course on dengue
Introducing our readers to roundtable participants: Manuel Romero-Placeres MD MPH PhD is a physician with dual specialties in family medicine and epidemiology, as well as a degree in public administration and a doctorate in medical sciences
Summary
I want to note the special attention being paid to risk groups— such as older adults, pregnant women, patients who have cancer or are immunocompromised—which begins in primary health care. Daniel González: On the clinical front, we have a group of internists, who have either master’s degrees or doctorates in infectious diseases, as well as critical care specialists, all selected from among IPK’s main clinical experts This group guides all COVID-19 case management, whether confirmed or suspected, based on the attending physicians’ reports. Our IPK clinical team interconsults with the central group headquartered here comprising epidemiologists, virologists, biosafety experts, managers and MINSAP representatives They discuss the clinical-epidemiologic aspects case-by-case, as well as the situation of serious and critical patients, results of complementary analyses, candidates for discharge, and follow-up strategies for those who have been released. Other factors are leukopenia accompanied by lymphopenia and thrombocytopenia Such findings enable timely intervention to minimize risk of patients progressing to severity, and we have applied this approach with good results. Two essential components must be considered: the donor and the recipient
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