Knowledge and risk perception of vulnerable women on Zika virus infection at primary health care level in Brazil

ABSTRACT

Vulnerable low-income groups were most affected by Zika virus (ZIKV)-related neurologic syndrome during the 2014–2016 outbreak in Brazil. Major ZIKV infection response took place in Primary Health Care (PHC), including prevention strategies and risk communication. We aimed to detect knowledge and beliefs, as well as knowledge gaps among vulnerable women at the PHC level. A cross-sectional study was carried out in two low-income urban community settings: a small municipality with few ZIKV infection cases and a large municipality hard-hit by the epidemic. An open-ended data collection instrument centred on ZIKV infection knowledge, sources of information, possible causes, symptoms, risk perception, consequences for pregnant women and PHC point-of-care communication was developed. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and content coded for thematic analysis. Most of the seventy-nine respondents had some knowledge of the disease, acknowledging the vector as the source of infection and associating microcephaly with the disease, but distanced themselves from possible ZIKV infection and related risk. PHC services in both communities did not adequately communicate risk for women and children. In an uncertain future scenario as to disease re-emergence, awareness may be diminished and acquired knowledge lost, configuring a public health challenge that must be overcome.

KEYWORDS:

• Zika virus
• preparedness
• health risk
• health knowledge
• attitudes and practice

Acknowledgements

The Authors gratefully thank the Municipal Health Secretariats of both cities in which the investigation took place, for their help and entry into the PHC units.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding sources

This work was partially supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under ZIKAlliance Grant Agreement no. 734548, by the Brazilian National Research and Development Council (CNPq, grant number 304975/2016-8). No funding source participated in planning, analyses or discussion of results.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by CNPq: [grant number 304975/2016-8]; Horizon 2020 Framework Programme: [grant number ZIKAlliance Grant Agreement no. 734548].