To understand the new phenomena that threaten our society, such as the current
ebola outbreak, we build shared meanings, that is, social representations. Social representations
make the ebola be understandable and also channeled the risk perception and emotions.
This work analyzed how 294 people from the Basque Country understood, perceived and felt
for ebola from August to November 2014. The results showed that ebola is represented as a
dangerous disease linked to Africa, but in our society creates mild risk perception and fear.
Even more, the risk perception and fear emotions were higher when the health crisis started
than when contagions happened in the West. This could be explained by the fatigue created
by the incessant reappearance of epidemics or because the tragic predictions of epidemics
almost never become real. What is clear is that these factors directly influence the way to face
emerging infectious diseases.
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April 2015 · Journal of Pediatric Sciences
Active immunization of children has been proven very effective in elimination of life threatening complications of many infectious diseases in developed countries. However, as vaccination-preventable infectious diseases and their complications have become rare, the interest focuses on immunization-related adverse reactions. Unfortunately, fear of vaccination-related adverse effects can led to
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