Women’s lives in times of Zika: mosquito-controlled lives?

Abstract

Zika virus infection during pregnancy is a cause of congenital brain abnormalities. Its consequences to pregnancies has made governments, national and international agencies issue advices and recommendations to women. There is a clear need to investigate how the Zika outbreak affects the decisions that women take concerning their lives and the life of their families, as well as how women are psychologically and emotionally dealing with the outbreak. We conducted a qualitative study to address the impact of the Zika epidemic on the family life of women living in Brazil, Puerto Rico, and the US, who were affected by it to shed light on the social repercussions of Zika. Women were recruited through the snowball sampling technique and data was collected through semi-structured interviews. We describe the effects in mental health and the coping strategies that women use to deal with the Zika epidemic. Zika is taking a heavy toll on women's emotional well-being. They are coping with feelings of fear, helplessness, and uncertainty by taking drastic precautions to avoid infection that affect all areas of their lives. Coping strategies pose obstacles in professional life, lead to social isolation, including from family and partner, and threaten the emotional and physical well-being of women. Our findings suggest that the impacts of the Zika epidemic on women may be universal and global. Zika infection is a silent and heavy burden on women's shoulders.

Solidarity, vulnerability and mistrust: how context, information and government affect the lives of women in times of Zika

“…They are coping with feelings of fear, helplessness, and uncertainty by taking drastic precautions to avoid infection that affect all areas of their lives. Coping strategies pose obstacles in professional life, lead to social isolation, including from family and partner, and threaten the emotional and physical well-being of women [16].…”

“…These factors subjected women to a degree of greater or lesser vulnerability. We described elsewhere how the lives of women were deeply affected by the emotional impact caused by the Zika epidemic [16]. However, to have a comprehensive understanding of the impact on women of the ZIKV pandemic, studies have to identify and analyze how the upstream or macro-level factors interact with individual-level maternal and child health outcomes.…”

“…The psychosocial implications of the Zika epidemic are essential for a complete understanding of its long-term repercussions. To our knowledge, few studies discussed the impacts on women who are indirectly affected and less vulnerable to Zika [16,25]. Women indirectly affected by the epidemic suffered indirect effects from it without being directly exposed to the virus by personal contacts or infected by it.…”

Solidarity, Vulnerability and Mistrust: How Context, Information and Government Affect the Lives of Women in Times of Zika

“…These factors subjected women to a degree of greater or lesser vulnerability. We described elsewhere how the lives of women were deeply affected by the emotional impact caused by the Zika epidemic [17]. During an infectious disease outbreak, particularly one that involves a new or previously unseen health threat, it is important to know how information influences and is perceived by the public.…”

“…The psychosocial implications of the Zika epidemic are essential for a complete understanding of its long-term repercussions. To our knowledge, few studies discussed the impacts on women who are indirectly affected and less vulnerable to Zika [17,26].…”