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

Abstract

BackgroundThe ZIKV infection outbreak in Brazil surged from late 2014, peaking in 2015. Vulnerable low-income groups, with inadequate housing conditions or sanitation were most affected by ZIKV-related neurologic syndrome. We aim to detect basal knowledge and beliefs, as well as knowledge gaps among vulnerable women. MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out in two low-income urban community settings: a small municipality in the Center West with few ZIKV infection cases and a large municipality in the Southeast hard-hit by the epidemic. We developed an open-ended data collection instrument centered on awareness