Congenital Zika syndrome and living conditions in the largest city of northeastern Brazil

Marcos Paulo Almeida Souza; Márcio Santos da Natividade; Guilherme Loureiro Werneck; Darci Neves Dos Santos

doi:10.1186/s12889-022-13614-x

Congenital Zika syndrome and living conditions in the largest city of northeastern Brazil

BMC Public Health. 2022 Jun 20;22(1):1231. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-13614-x.

Authors

Marcos Paulo Almeida Souza^#^{1

2}, Márcio Santos da Natividade^#³, Guilherme Loureiro Werneck^#^{4

5}, Darci Neves Dos Santos^#³

Affiliations

¹ Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. marcospaulo011@hotmail.com.
² Department of Surgery, University Hospital of Lagarto, Federal University of Sergipe, Lagarto, Sergipe, Brazil. marcospaulo011@hotmail.com.
³ Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
⁴ Instituto de Estudos em Saúde Coletiva, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁵ Instituto de Medicina Social, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: The Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic hit Brazil in 2015 and resulted in a generation of children at risk of congenital Zika syndrome (CZS). The social vulnerability of certain segments of the population contributed to the disproportional occurrence of CZS in the Brazilian Northeast, the poorest region in the country. Living conditions are essential factors in understanding the social determination of CZS, which is embedded in a complex interaction between biological, environmental, and social factors. Salvador, the biggest city in the region, played a central role in the context of the epidemic and was a pioneer in reporting the ZIKV infection and registering a high number of cases of CZS. The aim of the study was identifying the incidence and spatial distribution pattern of children with CZS in the municipality of Salvador, according to living conditions.

Methods: This is an ecological study that uses the reported cases of ZIKV and CZS registered in the epidemiological surveillance database of the Municipal Secretariat of Health of the city of Salvador between August of 2015 and July of 2016. The neighborhoods formed the analysis units and the thematic maps were built based on the reported cases. Associations between CZS and living conditions were assessed using the Kernel ratio and a spatial autoregressive linear regression model.

Results: Seven hundred twenty-six live births were reported, of which 236 (32.5%) were confirmed for CZS. Despite the reports of ZIKV infection being widely distributed, the cases of CZS were concentrated in poor areas of the city. A positive spatial association was observed between living in places with poorer living conditions and births of children with CZS.

Conclusions: This study shows the role of living conditions in the occurrence of births of children with CZS and indicates the need for approaches that recognize the part played by social inequalities in determining CZS and in caring for the children affected.

Keywords: Congenital Zika syndrome; Ecological study; Social determinants of health.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Brazil / epidemiology
Child
Female
Humans
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications, Infectious* / epidemiology
Social Conditions
Zika Virus Infection* / epidemiology
Zika Virus*