Miah Md Shahgahan, Mamun Md Razib, Hasan S M Murshid, Sarker Md Golam Faruk, Miah Muhammad Salim, Khan Md Gias Uddin, Kabir Ashraful, Haque Mohammad Ainul, Chowdhury N M Rabiul Awal
Department of Anthropology Shahjalal University of Science and Technology Sylhet Bangladesh.
Department of Public Health and Health Systems Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine Nagoya Japan.
Lifestyle Med (Hoboken). 2022 Jan;3(1):e52. doi: 10.1002/lim2.52. Epub 2021 Dec 4.
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients and survivors face stigma, discrimination, and negligence. The motives for and the different types and consequences of COVID-19-related stigmatization remain underexplored in Bangladesh. Therefore, this study examined how the COVID-19 stigmatization process is interlinked with transmission flow.
Using a qualitative research design, we conducted 20 in-depth interviews with infected and suspected caregivers and five key informant interviews with physicians, local media representatives, leaders, law enforcement officials, and local administrative officials in three divisional cities of Bangladesh. We performed thematic analysis to analyze the data.
Participants expressed their experiences with multiple subthemes within three themes (stigma related to symptoms, stigma associated with isolation and quarantine, and stigma associated with health services). Participants reportedly faced stigma, for example, exclusion, hesitation to interact, avoidance, bullying, threat, and negligence caused by misinformation, rumors, and fear. Stigmatized individuals reportedly hid their symptoms and refrained from seeking healthcare services, contributing to COVID-19 transmission flow.
Revealed insights may contribute to effective prevention, control, and management of such an emerging pandemic. Further in-depth exploration of such stigmatization process will enrich unexpected outbreaks management effectively.
冠状病毒病（COVID-19）患者及康复者面临着污名化、歧视和忽视。在孟加拉国，与COVID-19相关的污名化的动机、不同类型及后果仍未得到充分探究。因此，本研究考察了COVID-19污名化过程与传播流程是如何相互关联的。
采用定性研究设计，我们对受感染和疑似感染者的照料者进行了20次深入访谈，并对孟加拉国三个分区城市的医生、当地媒体代表、领导人、执法官员和地方行政官员进行了5次关键 informant访谈。我们进行了主题分析以分析数据。
参与者表达了他们在三个主题（与症状相关的污名、与隔离检疫相关的污名、与医疗服务相关的污名）下多个子主题的经历。据报道，参与者面临污名，例如，因错误信息、谣言和恐惧导致的排斥、互动犹豫、回避、欺凌、威胁和忽视。据报道，受污名化的个体隐瞒症状，避免寻求医疗服务，这助长了COVID-19的传播流程。
所揭示的见解可能有助于有效预防、控制和管理这种新出现的大流行病。对这种污名化过程的进一步深入探究将有效地丰富对意外疫情的管理。
