Networked Knowledge and Preparedness for Zika

General Audience Summary

The principal investigator and his team will conduct approximately 300 interviews in order to collect data and then conduct an analysis of that data to further our understanding of how cultural and political contexts shape the ways people respond to epidemics. The interviews will be videotaped for public engagement and wider distribution. The resulting analysis will provide grounded guidance for policy makers and others seeking to understand the diversity of fears, risk perceptions, preparedness, and acceptable actions. The Zika epidemic will not likely end soon, though it is likely that there will be other infectious viruses of global importance.

Technical Summary

This primary goal of this project is the immediate collection of perishable data from groups in both rural and urban communities in three countries (Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil). The groups are selected for their importance to the epidemic processes (transmission and treatment of the disease and of information), and they include women of childbearing age, medical professionals, teachers, and youth, as well as the informal sector and the unemployed. The research team will collect qualitative baseline information on these groups by conducting approximately 100 interviews per country.