Health knowledge about Zika virus: Brazil aspects

In this chapter, we discuss how the awareness and knowledge about the Zika virus in Brazil may have been shaped by the information spread out by the media, with an emphasis on vector control and on the necessity of delaying pregnancy to prevent microcephaly and other consequences of the congenital Zika syndrome. Even though the local government did not implement any relevant change in reproductive health services, such as an intensive offer of long-acting reversible methods and postabortion services, the few studies available in Brazil show that Zika virus epidemics may have affected reproductive behaviors, as the number of expected births decreased in the months following the announcement of the link between the virus and the cases of microcephaly.