Correction to "Cuban Abdala vaccine: Effectiveness in preventing severe disease and death from COVID-19 in Havana, Cuba; A cohort study" [The Lancet Regional Health - Americas 2022; 16: 100366] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2022.100366.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.lana.2022.100366.].

Cuban Abdala vaccine: Effectiveness in preventing severe disease and death from COVID-19 in Havana, Cuba; A cohort study.

Background: COVID-19 vaccines have proven safe and efficacious in reducing severe illness and death. Cuban protein subunit vaccine Abdala has shown safety, tolerability and efficacy (92·3% [95% CI: 85·7‒95·8]) against SARS-CoV-2 in clinical trials. This study aimed to estimate Abdala's real-world vaccine effectiveness (VE). Methods: This retrospective cohort study in Havana analyzed Cuban Ministry of Public Health databases (May 12-August 31, 2021) to assess VE in preventing severe illness and death from COVID-19 (primary outcomes). Cox models accounting for time-varying vaccination status and adjusting by demographics were used to estimate hazard ratios. A subgroup analysis by age group and a sensitivity analysis including a subgroup of tested persons (qRT-PCR) were conducted. Daily cases and deaths were modelled accounting for different VE. Findings: The study included 1 355 638 persons (Mean age: 49·5 years [SD: 18·2]; 704 932 female [52·0%]; ethnicity data unavailable): 1 324 vaccinated (partially/fully) and 31 433 unvaccinated. Estimated VE against severe illness was 93·3% (95% CI: 92·1-94·3) in partially- vaccinated and 98·2% (95% CI: 97·9-98·5) in fully-vaccinated and against death was 94·1% (95% CI: 92·5-95·4) in partially-vaccinated and 98·7% (95% CI: 98·3-99·0) in fully-vaccinated. VE exceeded 92·0% in all age groups. Daily cases and deaths during the study period corresponded to a VE above 90%, as predicted by models. Interpretation: The Cuban Abdala protein subunit vaccine was highly effective in preventing severe illness and death from COVID-19 under real-life conditions. Funding: Cuban Ministry of Public Health. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Centre.

Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Havana, Cuba, March-June 2020: Epidemiological Implications.

INTRODUCTION: The percentage of asymptomatic COVID-19 cases worldwide is estimated at 18-50%; 53% in Cuba specifically, and 58% in Havana, the Cuban capital and the 2020 epicenter of the country's COVID-19 epidemic. These figures, however, do not represent the transmission capacity or behavior of asymptomatic cases. Understanding asymptomatic transmission's contribution to SARS-CoV-2 spread is of great importance to disease control and prevention. OBJECTIVE: Identify the epidemiological implications of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in Havana, Cuba, during the first wave of the epidemic in 2020. METHODS: We carried out a cross-sectional study of all confirmed COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Havana, Cuba, from March 16 through June 30, 2020. The information was obtained through review of the standardized form for investigation of suspected and confirmed cases. Examined variables included age, sex, occupation, case type and source of infection. Cases were divided into asymptomatic and symptomatic groups, and transmission was characterized through the creation of a contact matrix. Analysis was carried out in Epidat and R. RESULTS: We studied 1287 confirmed cases, of which 57.7% (743) were asymptomatic, and 42.3% (544) were symptomatic. Symptomatic presentation was the most common for both imported and introduced cases, while asymptomatic presentation was more common in autochthonic cases and infections from an undetermined source. Asymptomatic infection was more common in groups aged ⟨20 and 20-59 years, while symptomatic infection was more common in those aged ⟩60 years. In the contact matrix, 34.6% of cases (445/1287) were not tied to other cases, and 65.4% (842/1287) were infectious-infected dyads, with symptomatic-symptomatic being the most common combination. The majority of primary cases (78.5%; 1002/1276) did not generate secondary cases, and 85.6% (658/743) of asymptomatic cases did not lead to other cases (although one asymptomatic superspreader led to 90 cases in a single event). However, 63.2% (344/544) of symptomatic primary cases generated secondary cases, and 11 symptomatic superspreaders spawned 100 secondary cases in different events. CONCLUSIONS: Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection was the most common form of COVID-19 in Havana during the study period, but its capacity for contagion was lower than that of symptomatic individuals. Superspreader events under specific conditions played an important role in sustaining the epidemic.

Comportamiento del bajo peso al nacer en el Policlínico Universitario Héroes del Moncada (2006-2010) / Behavior of low birth weight in the Héroes del Moncada University Polyclinic (2006-2010)

Introducción: el bajo peso al nacer es un indicador que incide de forma directa en la mortalidad infantil, y en el posterior desarrollo psicomotor del niño. El Programa para la Reducción del Bajo Peso al Nacer, señala que los niños nacidos con un peso inferior a los 2 500 g, presentan riesgo de mortalidad 40 veces mayor, durante el primer año de vida, en comparación con los niños que nacen con un peso normal a término. ..

Introduction: the low birth weight is an indicator that influence directly on the infant mortality and in the latter psychomotor development of the child. The Program for Reduction of the Low Birth Weight suggest that the children with a birth weight lower than 2 500 g have a death risk greater during the first year of life, compared with the children with a term normal weight. ..

Comportamiento del bajo peso al nacer en el Policlínico Universitario Héroes del Moncada (2006-2010) / Behavior of low birth weight in the Héroes del Moncada University Polyclinic (2006-2010)

Introducción: el bajo peso al nacer es un indicador que incide de forma directa en la mortalidad infantil, y en el posterior desarrollo psicomotor del niño. El Programa para la Reducción del Bajo Peso al Nacer, señala que los niños nacidos con un peso inferior a los 2 500 g, presentan riesgo de mortalidad 40 veces mayor, durante el primer año de vida, en comparación con los niños que nacen con un peso normal a término. ..

Introduction: the low birth weight is an indicator that influence directly on the infant mortality and in the latter psychomotor development of the child. The Program for Reduction of the Low Birth Weight suggest that the children with a birth weight lower than 2 500 g have a death risk greater during the first year of life, compared with the children with a term normal weight. ..

El medico que o ha desaparecido / The doctor that has not vanished

Going though his notes, conferences, speeches, we found his entire legacy for the formation and practice of a doctor. He expressed: “…The need of studying, the need of interchange with medical letters”. In August 16th, 1960; during the Cycle of Public Health Conferences, he noted: “to be a revolutionary doctor, or to be a revolutionary, the first thing we must have is a revolution” He said: “The doctor, the medical worker, must go to the centre of his new job, which is the man within the conglomerate.” He states: “Every doctor, in his circle of action, must accumulate that precious treasure which is the people’s gratitude”.

El médico que no ha desaparecido / The doctor that has not vanished

No ha desaparecido, porque sus ideas trascendieron las fronteras del momento histórico que le tocó vivir, concretado en cada obra médica dentro y fuera de la nación. Su caudal de conocimientos, olvidado por un tiempo tras un guerrillero y político infatigable, se multiplica hoy. Repasando sus apuntes, cartas, conferencias, discursos, descubrimos todo cuanto legó para la formación y el ejercicio de un médico.En 1950 durante el recorrido por el interior de Argentina, apuntó en su diario, refiriéndose a cómo se conoce un pueblo …aquello es la lujosa cubierta, pero su ala está reflejada en los enfermos de los hospitales, los asilados de la comisaría o el peatón ansioso con quien se intima…. Aquí encontramos el mensaje, el médico debe hacer otra mirada, distinta a la del turista, lo que hoy hacen los médicos solidarios por el mundo, penetrar en las realidades de las naciones, puede apreciar lo bello que brinda la ciudad, pero sin descuidar la necesidad de encontrar las causas objetivas de la situación que viven los habitantes marginados en esas condiciones

Going though his notes, conferences, speeches, we found his entire legacy for the formation and practice of a doctor.He expressed: …The need of studying, the need of interchange with medical letters. In August 16th, 1960; during the Cycle of Public Health Conferences, he noted: to be a revolutionary doctor, or to be a revolutionary, the first thing we must have is a revolution He said: The doctor, the medical worker, must go to the centre of his new job, which is the man within the conglomerate. He states: Every doctor, in his circle of action, must accumulate that precious treasure which is the peoples gratitude(AU)