Zika’s Legacy

Brazilian physicians and scientists work to answer urgent questions about the 2015 Zika epidemic — while waiting for the next one.

Occupational therapist Mayara Barata works with 2-year-old Nicolas, who has Zika congenital syndrome, in a photo of December 2017.

[This story was submitted in May 2018 in partial fulfillment of the degree of Master of Arts in Journalism. Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. MA in Science, Environment, and Medicine]

Mayara Barata took off her shoes before stepping onto the blue foam mat. It was a Friday, just before Christmas, 2017. She was about to see her last patient of the week. The mat covered part of the floor in an improvised rehabilitation center at Oswaldo Cruz University Hospital in Recife, northeast Brazil, the region where the Zika epidemic had hit hardest two years before.

Two-year-old Nicolas entered the room in a small wheelchair pushed by his aunt. Wall stickers depicting fluffy clouds and rainbows made the case that this was a space dedicated to children. So did the toys, buckets, cubes, and Pilates balls spread over the floor.

Barata, who is an occupational therapist, placed Nicolas on the mat, cozied between the two legs of a pillow made from a stuffed pair of faded blue jeans. While holding his right arm stretched, she gently started rotating his wrist. The seemingly trivial movement encountered resistance, causing his…