IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v289y2021ics0277953621007309.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Conflicting diagnostic and prognostic framing of epidemics? Newspaper representations of dengue as a public health problem in Peru

Author

Listed:
  • Espinoza, Maria I.

Abstract

The way newspapers frame infectious disease outbreaks and their connection to the environmental determinants of disease transmission matter because they shape how we understand and respond to these major events. In 2017, following an unexpected climatic event named “El Niño Costero,” a dengue epidemic in Peru affected over seventy-five thousand people. This paper examines how the Peruvian news media presented dengue, a climate-sensitive disease, as a public health problem by analyzing a sample of 265 news stories on dengue from two major newspapers published between January 1st and December 31st of 2017. In analyzing the construction of responsibility for the epidemic, I find frames that blamed El Niño Costero's flooding and Peru's poorly prepared cities and public health infrastructure as the causes of the dengue outbreak. However, when analyzing frames that offer solutions to the epidemic, I find that news articles call for government-led, short-term interventions (e.g., fogging) that fail to address the decaying public health infrastructure and lack of climate-resilient health systems. Overall, news media tended to over-emphasize dengue as requiring technical solutions that ignore the root causes of health inequality and environmental injustice that allow dengue to spread in the first place. This case speaks to the medicalization of public health and to a long history of disease-control programs in the Global South that prioritized top-down technical approaches, turning attention away from the social and environmental determinants of health, which are particularly important in an era of climate change.

Suggested Citation

  • Espinoza, Maria I., 2021. "Conflicting diagnostic and prognostic framing of epidemics? Newspaper representations of dengue as a public health problem in Peru," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:289:y:2021:i:c:s0277953621007309
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114398
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953621007309
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114398?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lawrence, Jody & Kearns, Robin A. & Park, Julie & Bryder, Linda & Worth, Heather, 2008. "Discourses of disease: Representations of tuberculosis within New Zealand newspapers 2002-2004," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 727-739, February.
    2. Samir Bhatt & Peter W. Gething & Oliver J. Brady & Jane P. Messina & Andrew W. Farlow & Catherine L. Moyes & John M. Drake & John S. Brownstein & Anne G. Hoen & Osman Sankoh & Monica F. Myers & Dylan , 2013. "The global distribution and burden of dengue," Nature, Nature, vol. 496(7446), pages 504-507, April.
    3. Wallis, Patrick & Nerlich, Brigitte, 2005. "Disease metaphors in new epidemics: the UK media framing of the 2003 SARS epidemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(11), pages 2629-2639, June.
    4. Washer, Peter, 2004. "Representations of SARS in the British newspapers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(12), pages 2561-2571, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Smith, Richard D., 2006. "Responding to global infectious disease outbreaks: Lessons from SARS on the role of risk perception, communication and management," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(12), pages 3113-3123, December.
    2. Eichelberger, Laura, 2007. "SARS and New York's Chinatown: The politics of risk and blame during an epidemic of fear," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(6), pages 1284-1295, September.
    3. Hilton, Shona & Hunt, Kate & Langan, Mairi & Bedford, Helen & Petticrew, Mark, 2010. "Newsprint media representations of the introduction of the HPV vaccination programme for cervical cancer prevention in the UK (2005-2008)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 942-950, March.
    4. Eunha Shim, 2017. "Cost-effectiveness of dengue vaccination in Yucatán, Mexico using a dynamic dengue transmission model," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(4), pages 1-17, April.
    5. Luis-Millán González & José Devís-Devís & Maite Pellicer-Chenoll & Miquel Pans & Alberto Pardo-Ibañez & Xavier García-Massó & Fernanda Peset & Fernanda Garzón-Farinós & Víctor Pérez-Samaniego, 2021. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Sport in Twitter: A Quantitative and Qualitative Content Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-20, April.
    6. Dominik Kiemel & Ann-Sophie Helene Kroell & Solène Denolly & Uta Haselmann & Jean-François Bonfanti & Jose Ignacio Andres & Brahma Ghosh & Peggy Geluykens & Suzanne J. F. Kaptein & Lucas Wilken & Piet, 2024. "Pan-serotype dengue virus inhibitor JNJ-A07 targets NS4A-2K-NS4B interaction with NS2B/NS3 and blocks replication organelle formation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-20, December.
    7. Cheng-Te Lin & Yu-Sheng Huang & Lu-Wen Liao & Chung-Te Ting, 2020. "Measuring Consumer Willingness to Pay to Reduce Health Risks of Contracting Dengue Fever," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-15, March.
    8. Amy R. Krystosik & Andrew Curtis & A. Desiree LaBeaud & Diana M. Dávalos & Robinson Pacheco & Paola Buritica & Álvaro A. Álvarez & Madhav P. Bhatta & Jorge Humberto Rojas Palacios & Mark A. James, 2018. "Neighborhood Violence Impacts Disease Control and Surveillance: Case Study of Cali, Colombia from 2014 to 2016," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-20, September.
    9. Jiang, Dong & Wang, Qian & Ding, Fangyu & Fu, Jingying & Hao, Mengmeng, 2019. "Potential marginal land resources of cassava worldwide: A data-driven analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 167-173.
    10. Benjamin Lopez-Jimena & Michaël Bekaert & Mohammed Bakheit & Sieghard Frischmann & Pranav Patel & Etienne Simon-Loriere & Louis Lambrechts & Veasna Duong & Philippe Dussart & Graham Harold & Cheikh Fa, 2018. "Development and validation of four one-step real-time RT-LAMP assays for specific detection of each dengue virus serotype," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(5), pages 1-22, May.
    11. Fazli Wahid & Dr.Sajjad Ali & Jan Muhammad, 2021. "Effective Sources of Information in Winter Seasonal Diseases: The Perception of Residents of District Buner, KP," Journal of Media & Communication (JMC), Ilma University, Faculty of Media & Design, vol. 1(2), pages 215-229.
    12. Lawrence, Jody & Kearns, Robin A. & Park, Julie & Bryder, Linda & Worth, Heather, 2008. "Discourses of disease: Representations of tuberculosis within New Zealand newspapers 2002-2004," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 727-739, February.
    13. Maria Glória Teixeira & Enny S Paixão & Maria da Conceição N Costa & Rivaldo V Cunha & Luciano Pamplona & Juarez P Dias & Camila A Figueiredo & Maria Aparecida A Figueiredo & Ronald Blanton & Vanessa , 2015. "Arterial Hypertension and Skin Allergy Are Risk Factors for Progression from Dengue to Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever: A Case Control Study," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(5), pages 1-8, May.
    14. Zheng, Zhoumin & Xu, Nuo & Khan, Mohsin & Pedersen, Michael & Abdalgader, Tarteel & Zhang, Lai, 2024. "Nonlinear impacts of climate change on dengue transmission in mainland China: Underlying mechanisms and future projection," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 492(C).
    15. Maneerat, Somsakun & Daudé, Eric, 2016. "A spatial agent-based simulation model of the dengue vector Aedes aegypti to explore its population dynamics in urban areas," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 333(C), pages 66-78.
    16. Emma Taylor-Salmon & Verity Hill & Lauren M. Paul & Robert T. Koch & Mallery I. Breban & Chrispin Chaguza & Afeez Sodeinde & Joshua L. Warren & Sylvia Bunch & Natalia Cano & Marshall Cone & Sarah Eyso, 2024. "Travel surveillance uncovers dengue virus dynamics and introductions in the Caribbean," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    17. Wallis, Patrick & Nerlich, Brigitte, 2005. "Disease metaphors in new epidemics: the UK media framing of the 2003 SARS epidemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(11), pages 2629-2639, June.
    18. Mohd Hanief Ahmad & Mohd Ismail Ibrahim & Zeehaida Mohamed & Nabilah Ismail & Muhammad Amiruddin Abdullah & Rafidah Hanim Shueb & Mohd Nazri Shafei, 2018. "The Sensitivity, Specificity and Accuracy of Warning Signs in Predicting Severe Dengue, the Severe Dengue Prevalence and Its Associated Factors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-12, September.
    19. Wang, Yi & Cao, Jinde & Jin, Zhen & Zhang, Haifeng & Sun, Gui-Quan, 2013. "Impact of media coverage on epidemic spreading in complex networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 392(23), pages 5824-5835.
    20. Arun Vishwanath, 2015. "Diffusion of deception in social media: Social contagion effects and its antecedents," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 1353-1367, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:289:y:2021:i:c:s0277953621007309. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.