RESUMEN
RESUMEN Durante la pandemia de COVID-19 deben mantenerse activos los sistemas de vigilancia de enfermedades prevenibles mediante vacunación. El objetivo de la presente comunicación es alertar sobre el debilitamiento de la vigilancia de la enfermedad neumocócica invasiva en Cuba durante el 2020. Para ello se realizó un análisis retrospectivo del número de casos con enfermedad neumocócica invasiva confirmado en el Laboratorio Nacional de Referencia, Cuba 2014-2020. Entre el 2014 y 2019 el número de aislados de Streptococcus pneumoniae osciló entre 81 y 121. Durante el 2020 solo se confirmaron 31 aislados; 19 de ellos se recuperaron de meningitis y únicamente cinco de neumonía. Las medidas sanitarias implementadas para contener el avance de la pandemia COVID-19 pueden haber influido en la disminución de aislados responsables de enfermedad neumocócica invasiva. Esto parece obedecer al debilitamiento de la vigilancia, pues las pruebas para el diagnóstico de la COVID-19 se convirtieron en una prioridad durante el 2020.
ABSTRACT During the COVID-19 pandemic, surveillance systems for vaccine-preventable diseases should remain active. The purpose of the present communication is to warn about the weakening of invasive pneumococcal disease surveillance in Cuba during the year 2020. To achieve such an end, a retrospective analysis was conducted of the number of invasive pneumococcal disease cases confirmed at the Cuban National Reference Laboratory in the period 2014-2020. From 2014 to 2019 the number of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates ranged between 81 and 121. In 2020 only 31 isolates were confirmed, 19 of which were retrieved from meningitis and a mere five from pneumonia. The health actions implemented to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic may have influenced the decline in the number of isolated responsible for invasive pneumococcal disease. This situation seems to be a consequence of the weakening of surveillance, since COVID-19 diagnostic tests became a priority during 2020.
