Can the Content of Social Networks Explain Epidemic Outbreaks?

People share and seek information online that reflects a variety of social phenomena, including concerns about health conditions. We analyze how the contents of social networks provide real-time information to monitor and anticipate policies aimed at controlling or mitigating public health outbreaks. In November 2020, we collected tweets on the COVID-19 pandemic with content ranging from safety measures, vaccination, health, to politics.

Fertility trends during successive novel infectious disease outbreaks: Zika and COVID-19 in Brazil.

This study aims to estimate fertility trends in Brazil in the 2010s and early 2020s during a period of back-to-back novel infectious disease outbreaks - Zika virus and COVID-19. We use Brazilian Ministry of Health and Association of Civil Registrar data from 2011-2021 to measure general fertility rates at the national and state levels. We also used seasonal ARIMA model to forecast fertility rates by month and state in 2021 and compared these forecasts with observed fertility rates.

Zika virus public health crisis and the perpetuation of gender inequality in Brazil.

Background: In 2015-2017, the Americas experienced a highly consequential epidemics for pregnancy and childbearing. Mainly transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti, but also through sexual intercourse, the Zika virus poses the risk of congenital Zika syndrome to fetus, which includes microcephaly and other child development complications. When a public health crisis taps directly into reproductive health, typically a feminine realm, responses to the emergency may exacerbate deeply-rooted gender norms.