Emergency Zika - Guatemala - Results of the Consultation Process Knowledge Attitudes and Practices on ZIKV

In May 2015 the first case of ZIKA (ZIKV) virus infection was confirmed in Brazil. In less than nine months the virus spread through 41 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean, infecting more than 1.3 million people. A causal link has now been established between ZIKV and congenital malformations such as microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome; the increase in abnormalities in other organs such as eyes and ears has also been associated with ZIKV 1. In February 2016 the WHO declared that the emergence of clusters of cases of microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome associated with the ZIKV epidemic constituted an international public health concern, i.e., a situation that should be treated as an emergency. By September 1, 2016, 73 countries and territories have reported the presence of ZIKV transmitted by mosquitoes since 2007 2.

In this context, WVI and PAHO realized the need for a KAP (knowledge, attitudes and practices) survey related to ZIKV disease. The objective of this survey is to determine the knowledge, beliefs, behaviors and practices of people (adults and adolescents, women and men) on ZIKV, in communities where WV has developed a plan of response to the epidemic, which includes six countries (Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador) in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In this report, the results of the KAP survey in Guatemala (GT) are presented.

The KAP-ZIKV process was commissioned by the ZIKV Emergency Response Directorate of World Vision International and the Pan American Health Organization. The KAP-ZIKV technical team consists of World Vision International's Response Director ZIKVV, WV International Technical Director of Humanitarian Accountability and DME, WV-LACRO Regional Director of HEA for the WV-LACRO Regional Health and HIV Adviser and the Consultant for the CAP-ZIKV. For more information on this CAP-ZIKV process, please contact Alfonso Rosales, Director of ZIKV's Emergency Response at World Vision International, at arosales@WorldVision.org