In a recent article published by Deutsche Welle, Dr. Felix Drexler (Charité, Berlin; GLACIER Steering Committee member) is interviewed as part of the coverage of Cuba’s current dengue and chikungunya situation. Drexler notes that he and Cuban colleagues anticipated this scenario “8 or 9 months” ago, pointing to the widespread presence of Aedes mosquitoes and low population immunity to chikungunya. The article also reports that a chikungunya vaccine project was submitted to Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, but had not received funding at the time of publication.
The article describes Cuba’s simultaneous, still uncontrolled outbreak of dengue and chikungunya, including reports of severe and prolonged symptoms that can last for weeks or even months. It also highlights gaps in vaccine access: two chikungunya vaccines have been recently approved and are available in the EU and the U.S., but not in the region, and PAHO confirms that no dengue immunization is available in Cuba. Finally, the article recalls that Cuba developed its own COVID-19 vaccines, which Drexler cites as evidence that local vaccine production remains possible despite current constraints.
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