Dar um bale: Ativismo materno na busca por serviços a bebês com Síndrome Congênita do Vírus Zika no Recife

Abstract

In 2015, there were several occurrences of a disease transmitted by a then little-known virus which garnered much attention and sparked great concern from Brazilian and international communities alike: the Zika vírus (ZIKV). The disease caused by this virus is transmitted mainly by the mosquito Aedes aegypti ”“ the same vector for the known Dengue and Chikungunya viruses. The epidemic moved to the forefront of the public consciousness after there were a large number of documented births of babies with microcephaly and other congenital anomalies and their presumed correlation to the Zika virus. Today, two years after the outbreak was recognized, there are other challenges arising, especially for the so-called mães de micro ("micro mothers"), who are the main caregivers of these children. The present research of ZIKV focuses on the anthropological analysis of the "bale" category, perceived in the fild and contextualized in the phenomenon of the syndrome, especially microcephaly, in Recife/PE, as a way of expression by the caregiver woman in the pursuit for care in health services and rights in municipal health institutions.