Cuba carried out the first study on COVID-19 incidence in America

The National Research on Incidence and Prevalence of SARS-COV-2 infection developed in Cuba is the first one of this type in the American continent, and it seeks to clear up aspects such as the transmission of the virus among asymptomatic people and the immune response of the population.

This was confirmed to Granma newspaper by Vivian de las Mercedes Noriega Bravo, PhD in Sciences, specialist of first and second degree in Epidemiology and head of the research team, and she added that the study is part of the Cuban government's actions for the control of COVID-19.

The research, Noriega Bravo specified, also constitutes a support in the transition of the country towards the recovery and normalization phases, since knowing the epidemiological dynamics is essential to adopt efficient measures that contribute to the control of the pandemic.

According to the specialist, the first objective was to estimate the prevalence of SARS-COV-2 infection at national level, to later analyze the immune response and accumulated incidence according to the main socio-demographic characteristics.

It is also proposed to determine the extent to which individuals with asymptomatic or subclinical infections prevail and the main features of these patients, the expert stated.

The preliminary results of the study include that a part of the population, supposedly healthy, had acquired the virus that causes COVID-19 and did not develop symptoms of the disease, she continued.

Ninety percent and more of those people would have been asymptomatic at the time of being studied, and these preliminary results are a warning about the importance of individuals with asymptomatic infection, especially now, in the new post-pandemic normality, Noriega Bravo concluded.