IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aph/ajpbhl/10.2105-ajph.86.5.738_7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cuban epidemic neuropathy, 1991 to 1994: History repeats itself a century after the "Amblyopia of the Blockade"

Author

Listed:
  • Ordúñez-García, P.O.
  • Javier Nieto, F.
  • Espinosa-Brito, A.D.
  • Caballero, B.

Abstract

The 1991 to 1994 epidemic of neuropathy in Cuba has been one of the more devastating in recent history, affecting more than 50 000 people throughout the entire country with clinical manifestations of optic and peripheral neuropathy. Although the causes are not entirely clear, it seems that a combination of acute nutritional deficiency and the toxic effects of tobacco and possibly other unidentified toxic substances is involved. The epidemic coincided with the acute worsening of the economic situation on the island following political changes in Eastern European countries and a tightening of the US economic embargo. This paper reviews reports of a strikingly similar epidemic known as the "Amblyopia of the Blockade," which occurred in the Cuba almost a century ago when the island was undergoing a US naval blockade during the Cuban-Spanish-American war. It discusses the parallelism with the recent epidemic as well as the implications of this historical evidence to clarify further the ultimate causes of these epidemics.

Suggested Citation

  • Ordúñez-García, P.O. & Javier Nieto, F. & Espinosa-Brito, A.D. & Caballero, B., 1996. "Cuban epidemic neuropathy, 1991 to 1994: History repeats itself a century after the "Amblyopia of the Blockade"," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 86(5), pages 738-743.
    • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.86.5.738_7
    DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.86.5.738
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.86.5.738
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2105/AJPH.86.5.738?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.86.5.738_7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Christopher F Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.apha.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.