The health authorities of the Havana municipalities of Boyeros and Diez de Octubre started applying Nasalferón to travelers and their cohabitants as of yesterday, January 7, as was announced in the Provincial Defense Council (CDP) of Havana.
The news, published by Radio COCO station on its website and amplified by the Agencia Cubana de Noticias news agency, explains that one drop will be applied nasally, in the morning and another at night, for a period of between five and 10 days. Cohabitants must start treatment three days before the traveler’s arrival to their home.
Ileana Morales Suárez, director of science and technological innovation of the Ministry of Public Health, specified at the meeting that the use of this drug will soon be extended to the rest of the province.
Nasal interferon to be administered to all health workers in Ciego de Ávila
The source recalls that Nasalferón is an immunoprotective derived from Cuban interferon, which has been used with 93 percent effectiveness in medical personnel in the red zone of hospitals where the pandemic is being fought, and in health collaborators.
According to specialists, Nasalferón, a Cuban biotechnology drug with prophylactic action, prevents the replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, and modifies the number of colonies present in the body, in addition to strengthening the immune system and ensuring that if people become infected with the pathogen they do not develop severe symptoms.
Regarding COVID-19 in Havana, at the close of January 5, 3,922 PCR tests (Polymerase Chain Reaction) had been carried out and 75 positive cases had been confirmed, for 1.9 percent of positivity.
During the meeting itself, it was learned that five confirmed health workers were reported in the province, two with an institutional source of infection, two non-institutional and one case without a specified source. They are currently working on 235 active focus controls in the 15 municipalities, all with reinforcement measures, and to date, 1,689 contacts are kept under surveillance.