Introduction:

That the world is ravaged by a pandemic is not new, as every so often a new disease affects humans. The accumulated experiences prove that the capability to face up to these situations rises exponentially, according to preparedness and organization of the country prior to the event.

Objectives:

To describe the main epidemics that occurred in Cuba and the confrontation with Covid 19 at the Clinical Surgical Hospital Lucía Iñiguez Landín.

Methods:

The historical-logical method was used on the particular history of some epidemic diseases in Cuba; a documentary review was carried out, as well as interviews with directors of that institution to perform job evaluation.

Results:

Smallpox, measles and yellow fever caused numerous epidemics during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, with high mortality; in the 19th century, malaria was added and isolated epidemics such as dengue fever, in 1828 and cholera, in 1833, were characterized as relevant. In the neocolonial period, some of the diseases that occurred were: yellow fever until 1909, malaria, smallpox, diphtheria, scarlet fever, typhoid fever, benign influenza, chickenpox, leprosy and bubonic plague until 1915; after 1959, dengue, HIV, influenza A H1N1, cholera and, at the moment, SARS-CoV2.

Conclusions:

For centuries, Cuba has had to fight against some diseases that affect the whole world and have reached the island,or are typical of the tropical area where we live; at every historical moment, morbidity and mortality have been the result of the prevailing system, scientific development, strength of the health system and preparation in the fight against epidemics.

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