Memories of the Zika virus epidemic in Brazil: risk perception and response strategies from an anthropological perspective - Prado, Helena
This paper aims to present post-epidemic narratives about the spread of Zika virus occurred in Brazil between 2015 and 2016. The circulation of medical information and rumours during the epidemic led to an accumulation of scientific and lay knowledge by different actors (physicians from northern countries and southern countries, health community centre actors, pregnant women and women of childbearing age etc.). As such, it had influenced reproductive life and changed practices in some instances. I will present my first results based on an ethnographic field driven in September and October 2017 with women of childbearing age in São Paulo and Recife. The changes in reproductive life can be understood through the dual aspect of risk perception (and fear of severe outcome in new-born) and response strategies. Both aspects depend on women’s location, previous experience of vector-borne disease, social class, and access to health care and prenatal care (public or private). Consequently, I also intend to discuss how a global health emergency is perceived at a local level in a context of great medical uncertainty and after the proclaimed end of Zika virus epidemic.
Keywords: conferencePaper; Zika