Entre o surto e a epidemia: a meningite meningocócica em Guaraniaçu nas páginas do Diário do Paraná, 1973

Abstract

By using content analysis procedures, the article discusses how a widely circulated newspaper in Paraná presented news about the occurrence of meningococcal meningitis in the state in the early 1970s. The research strategy was focused on 1973, when in the western region of the state, a large number of cases arose. The text focuses on the municipality of Guaraniaçu, the only one that was declared by the health authorities of Paraná with an epidemic character that year. The article concludes that, although the military regime imposed censorship on epidemic news in the country, the newspaper Diário do Paraná, supporter of the regime, reported occurrences of meningitis. However, the news was published late and did not reveal to readers the complexity of Guaraniaçu's epidemic context.