Between Gallup, Harvard School of Public Health and Pew, we are getting a picture of what the public is hearing, and what they are thinking and doing about H1N1 (swine flu.)
Gallup:
Americans are as likely to say the media have exaggerated the dangers of swine flu (45%) as to say the news reports are about right (46%). Only 6% say the media are not taking the
Gallup on media response
When it comes to vaccine:
When asked if they would get such a vaccine if one were developed, 46% of Americans currently say yes, while 52% say no.
Tracking that number will be interesting. More severe disease would be expected to change that number.
Harvard School of Public Health: Here's a sample of the data HSPH released today, suggestive of an attentive public that is putting things in perspective.
Concerns about the outbreak
The survey finds that about six in ten Americans (61%) are not currently concerned that they or someone in their immediate family may get sick from H1N1 flu in the next 12 months. The proportion that does not express concern has risen from 53 percent last week. However, three-fourths (77%) say they are closely following news about the recent H1N1 flu outbreak, the same proportion as a week ago.
"The fact that most people continue to follow the news closely suggests that there is a lot of interest and uncertainty about the risk for themselves and their families over the next year," said Robert J. Blendon, Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Americans' Response
Two-thirds (67%) report that they or someone in their household has washed their hands or used hand sanitizer more frequently in response to reports
HSPH on parental concerns
Satisfaction with public officials
Overall, Americans are satisfied with the performance of public health officials in the H1N1 outbreak. More than eight in ten Americans say they are satisfied with the way that public health officials have managed the response to the outbreak (83%) and with the information public health officials have been providing (88%).
People can handle uncertainty, especially if they trust the news source. The survey does show that schools could do a better job of messaging.
Pew:
The internet tops the list (25%) when people are asked which source has been most useful. Close to four-in-ten
Pew poll on flu news
Broken down a different way, of the 49% who say they learned something about the swine flu from the internet, about half (51%) say the internet was their most useful source. Among the 69% who say they learned about the flu from local TV news, just 23% cite local TV news as the most useful source. For cable news viewers, the pattern is similar. Of the two-thirds (65%) that say they learned about the flu from cable TV news, just 22% cite
Doc eval of H1N1 govt. response
Finally, Media Curves (the outfit doing insta-polls during the debates) looks at the response from docs:
The study also revealed that physicians believe the U.S. Government is more prepared to handle an epidemic, as compared to last week’s study. Physicians were also asked how their behavior and lifestyle have changed after becoming aware of the H1N1 virus.
The majority of respondents (56%) reported that they had no behavior changes since becoming aware of the virus. However, 40% reported that they are washing their hands more frequently after becoming aware of the virus.
The docs know that disaster preparedness could have been better, but wasn't a preparedness disaster. had an influx of patients come in neither their offices nor hospitals would have been unaffected by volume. All the effort to prep for H5N1 helped considerably with this milder virus, and systems coped fairly well, though school messaging and closure was spotty (hospitals were better prepared than schools.)
One lesson was learned over the past few years. Whether it's twitter, the internet or other social media, CDC seems to have picked up the ball and run with it. Nedra Kline Weinreich, blogger and social marketer, writes:
As those of you who have read this blog for a while know, I have written quite a bit about pandemic preparedness from a social marketing perspective both here at Spare Change and as an invited blogger on the HHS Pandemic Flu Leadership Blog in 2007.
At that time, a pandemic seemed like a far-off risk, though we knew it was more a question of 'when' than 'if.' Since then, HHS and CDC have been working hard to increase preparedness at the national, state and local levels. From the rapid and effective response we've seen so far, it appears that they have done good work in that arena. Health departments and school districts in the US, and especially in Mexico City, have been quick to identify cases, isolate them and implement social distancing measures to keep people away from each other.
And there's always Flu Wiki, pandemicflu.gov, get pandemic ready and other internet sources to check as well. This is one instance where the ability to supply links are invaluable. But as a whole, the message has gotten out, and the polls suggest the public is doing a good job grappling with uncertainty. The public expects government to do an anti-Katrina and actually help people. Sharing information on flu and the public health response isn't just good policy, it's good politics.
