‘Os Afetados’: The Effects of the Zika Outbreak on Brazilian Mothers and Children
Arianna Mack and Christian Ledet
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Imagine giving birth to your first child who suffers from a syndrome of a disease that you gave them not knowing you were ever sick. Imagine knowing that it could only have been prevented through government intervention. Your child now has to experience intellectual, physical, and sensory impairments as a result of a virus that remains in your untreated bloodstream. The government has offered financial support for your family, but you never actually see that money – and you’re only one of thousands of mothers in this position. This podcast explores the socio-political and socio-economic impacts of the Zika virus on low-income families, and particularly mothers, in the 2015 Zika epidemic.
Further Reading
Garcia Serpa Osorio-de-Castro, Claudia, Elaine Silva Miranda, Carlos Machado de Freitas, Kenneth
Rochel de Camargo, and Hilarie Hartel Cranmer. “The Zika Virus Outbreak in Brazil: Knowledge Gaps and Challenges for Risk Reduction.” American journal of public health. American Public Health Association, June 2017. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5425851/.
Gómez, Eduardo J, Fernanda Aguilar Perez, and Deisy Ventura. “What Explains the Lacklustre Response
to Zika in Brazil? Exploring Institutional, Economic and Health System Context,” October 19, 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6203016/.
Gretchen Vogel, Warren Cornwall, Jon Cohen, Christa Lesté-Lasserre, Nicholas Wallace, Lucy Hicks,
and Robert F. Service. “Zika Virus Kills Developing Brain Cells.” Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science, December 9, 2017. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/zika-virus-kills-developing-brain-cells.
Human Rights Watch. “Brazil: Zika Epidemic Exposes Rights Problems.” Human Rights Watch, October
28, 2020. https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/07/12/brazil-zika-epidemic-exposes-rights-problems.
Tavernise, Sabrina, and Donald G. Mcneil. “Zika Virus a Global Health Emergency, W.H.O. Says.” The
New York Times. The New York Times, February 1, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/health/zika-virus-world-health-organization.html.