cuba

Virus Involved in Cuban Dissident’s Death Is Spreading

HAVANA – Cuban health authorities warned Saturday that two flu viruses are spreading on the island that particularly affect the elderly and babies, one of which struck Laura Pollan, leader of the Ladies in White, who died a week ago.

"At the moment the flu viruses that are spreading are the H3N2 that chiefly affects the adult population, and respiratory syncytial virus that affects children of less that a year old, causing bronchial complaints in some babies," the official daily Granma said Saturday in an article about seasonal flu.

"That does not exclude either of these pathogenic agents from afflicting people of any age," the report adds, without ever mentioning the case of Pollan.

Last Oct. 14 the leader of the Ladies in White dissident group, Laura Pollan, 63, died after suffering respiratory failure and diabetic decompensation combined with respiratory syncytial virus, a type of dengue and her chronic diabetes, members of her family said at the time.

An official government "blog" mentioned Pollan's death, citing the head of the intensive care unit where the dissident was hospitalized for a week, saying that the diagnosis was "pneumonia from respiratory syncytial virus, a bacterial respiratory infection and acute respiratory failure."

This past week, dissidents have expressed their doubts and suspicions about Laura Pollan's death, among them her companion and Ladies in White spokeswoman Berta Soler.

Several days ago, Soler told foreign media that during Pollan's hospitalization there was some confusion about whether or not she had dengue, and said that the test results took longer than expected.

In the article published Saturday, the public is advised to take preventive and hygienic measures to ward off flu, to see a doctor when the first symptoms appear and to remember that children and those older than 65, as well as people with chronic ailments, are the groups most at risk of possible complications, above all those derived from pneumonia.

Granma, the official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba, said that an anti-flu vaccine will soon be administered to the groups that are most vulnerable.

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