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Women's Lives in Times of Zika.pdf
Cadernos de Saúde Pública (2018)
  • Ana Rosa Linde
  • Carlos Eduardo Siqueira
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.

Keywords
  • Zika Virus Infection; Pregnancy; Women’s Health; Sickness Impact Profile
Publication Date
2018
DOI
10.1590/0102-311X00178917
Citation Information
Ana Rosa Linde and Carlos Eduardo Siqueira. "Women's Lives in Times of Zika.pdf" Cadernos de Saúde Pública Vol. 34 Iss. 5 (2018)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/carlos_siqueira/40/
Creative Commons license
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY-NC International License.