Risk perception, coronavirus and precariousness. A reflection on fieldwork under quarantine

Abstract

On 19 March 2020, I last met with a group of women from a neighbourhood of Monterrey, Mexico where I have spent the past year conducting ethnographic research. They had scheduled a meeting to decide whether to continue our weekly talks on health-related topics. 'Is this coronavirus real?' was the question guiding the meeting. Women shared their thoughts on their feelings on the threat that predominates in biomedical discourse. An air of resignation pervaded their speech. Nearly all of them suffer from chronic diseases and they clearly perceive the risk of their own death. However, the material conditions of their lives limit the scope of their strategies to protect themselves. A dialogue emerged between the women's request for clarity regarding the pandemic and me, a researcher called on as a physician. This article seeks to reflect on the political and moral aspects of everyday life that configure risk perception in the context of the WHO-declared pandemic. I analyse the dialogue sustained in the meeting as part of an ethnographic research I am conducting in this neighbourhood. Most of its residents live under precarious circumstances, which is a fundamental element in understanding their responses to the current COVID-19 crisis.

Understandings and practices related to risk, immunity and vaccination during the Delta variant COVID-19 outbreak in Australia: An interview study

“…Risk-related understandings and practices are highly interdependent with factors such as numbers of COVID cases in participants’ place of residence, the tenor of news reporting in their locale and their observations of how other people they see in their locale behave. Other influences are people’s own state of health as well as their age, occupation, religious faith, educational background, political views or trust in experts or government [13] , [14] , [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] . Indepth qualitative research conducted in countries as diverse as Côte d’Ivoire [19] , Nigeria [20] , England [21] , Switzerland [22] , Sweden [23] and China [24] have demonstrated the intersections of such sociocultural factors with ideas about COVID vaccination acceptance, hesitancy or rejection.…”

“…This scholarship has shown that understandings of human immunity have evolved from the ‘attack’ and ‘defence’ model of the early twentieth century [30] towards the concept of the porous, precarious and dynamic immune system [31] . People now often think of immune systems as being unique to the individual, based on their health history and lifestyle [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] , [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] .…”

“…Several studies involving mothers of young children in the Global North have found that while these women consider vaccination to be an important way of boosting their children’s undeveloped immune systems, they also value what they consider to be more natural forms of improving immunity, such as breastfeeding and providing a healthy diet and fresh air [39] , [40] , [41] . The ‘hygiene hypothesis’, or the idea that exposure to pathogens is important to boost immune systems, is also often articulated in lay accounts [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] , [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] .…”

“…Similar to public communication related to previous outbreaks of infectious diseases [6] or to the problem of antimicrobial resistance [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] , [45] , messages about the importance of protecting others by engaging in hygienic practices or accepting recommended vaccination doses have also dominated news reports, government authorities’ announcements and public health campaigns [46] , [1] , [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] . People with COVID have been instructed to stay at home or in quarantine facilities, while others have been encouraged to physically distance from each other, wash their hands regularly, wear masks, accept vaccinations, seek testing if exposed or experiencing symptoms, and care for themselves at home if they do become ill with COVID [1] , [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] , [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] ...…”

“…People who have disobeyed such instructions have often been depicted in strongly moralistic terms as lacking good sense, being ignorant or even flagrantly placing others at risk (as the term ‘Covidiots’ encapsulates) [48] , [49] . Some people diagnosed with COVID have also experienced public shaming as well as stigma, feelings of guilt and ostracism for placing themselves and others at risk by becoming infected [51] , [1] , [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] , [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] , [45] , [46] , [47] , [48] , [49] , [50] .…”