Controle de dengue centrado no ser humano e suas competências culturais de cuidar

Abstract

This study investigates dengue disease perceptions among layperson's and professionals' involved in control actions in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. The study's general aim was to comprehend and to explain how social and cultural factors influence the efficient control of the disease and its vector, Aedes aegypti. Additionally, this research sought to point out existing cultural competencies that could be amplified in a sustainable disease control intervention, emphasising popular participation. In order to capture the empirical reality, qualitative methodologies and theoretical perspectives from the field of medicai anthropology were utilized. Open-ended, ethnographic interviews with key informants, participant- observation of daily events and focal group discussions provided an in-depth view of the subjective, lived-experience of humans confronting dengue. Results reveal that the disease, in its initial phase, is frequently interpreted as a common flu-like virus. However, in its latter stages, the population astutely distinguishes between a common viral infection and dengue. The frequency of disease outbreaks and the first-hand, lived-experience of being sick with dengue are important factors in changing people's perceptions about disease severity. Layperson's familiarity with dengue and awareness of severe forms, are motivating forces which fuel popular participation in vector control activities. Blame for dengue control program failures fali on both the population-at-risk as well as govemment institutions. There is, however, a consensus that isolated actions by either party will not solve the problem. A combined effort, therefore, is essential to successfully control dengue and its vector in Fortaleza. The development of new control strategies, based on popular participation, must take into account lay disease knowledge, constructed from people's daily experience with the disease, and their capacity for selfcare.