Giuseppe
Emeritus
The Public's Response to the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic (N Engl J Med., extract, edited)
[Source: NEJM.org, <cite cite="http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMp1005102?query=TOC">NEJM -- The Public's Response to the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic</cite>; full free PDF Document (LINK). Extract, edited.]
Published at www.nejm.org May 19, 2010 (10.1056/NEJMp1005102)
The Public's Response to the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic
Gillian K. SteelFisher, Ph.D., Robert J. Blendon, Sc.D., Mark M. Bekheit, J.D., and Keri Lubell, Ph.D.
In April 2009, a novel influenza A (H1N1) virus emerged in the United States with the key characteristics of a pandemic virus, and within weeks it had spread to every region in the country.1 Ultimately, the rate of death was lower than was initially predicted, but the numbers of H1N1 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths were nonetheless substantial,2 and the experience offers some lessons that may help us to prepare for future influenza outbreaks.
Given the crucial role that the public plays in containing or spreading illness and in seeking related medical care, we have examined the public's response to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic and relevant public health recommendations through a comprehensive review of available data from national public opinion polls conducted by telephone between April 2009 and January 2010 (see Polls on Public Response to H1N1). Our sources include 20 polls, 8 of which were conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) through cooperative agreements with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative, and the National Public Health Information Coalition. We examined the extent to which people adopted specific behaviors during three periods: the early months of the pandemic, when no vaccine was available; at the time of the initial, delayed release of vaccine to high-priority groups; and after the vaccine was widely available. We also examined the reasons why many Americans did not get vaccinated and reviewed the public's view of the government's response to the pandemic. In instances in which multiple polling questions were relevant, we present a range of findings.
Early in the pandemic, when no vaccine was available, a majority of Americans were quick to adopt two central public health recommendations (see Table 1). In the pandemic's first weeks, almost two thirds of Americans (59 to 67%) said that they or someone in their family had begun to wash their hands or clean them with sanitizer more frequently, and a majority (55%) had made preparations to stay at home if they or a family member got sick. It was also recommended that people avoid exposure to others with influenza-like symptoms, and 35 to 38% said they had done that (HSPH, April, May, and June 2009).
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[Source: NEJM.org, <cite cite="http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMp1005102?query=TOC">NEJM -- The Public's Response to the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic</cite>; full free PDF Document (LINK). Extract, edited.]
Published at www.nejm.org May 19, 2010 (10.1056/NEJMp1005102)
The Public's Response to the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic
Gillian K. SteelFisher, Ph.D., Robert J. Blendon, Sc.D., Mark M. Bekheit, J.D., and Keri Lubell, Ph.D.
In April 2009, a novel influenza A (H1N1) virus emerged in the United States with the key characteristics of a pandemic virus, and within weeks it had spread to every region in the country.1 Ultimately, the rate of death was lower than was initially predicted, but the numbers of H1N1 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths were nonetheless substantial,2 and the experience offers some lessons that may help us to prepare for future influenza outbreaks.
Given the crucial role that the public plays in containing or spreading illness and in seeking related medical care, we have examined the public's response to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic and relevant public health recommendations through a comprehensive review of available data from national public opinion polls conducted by telephone between April 2009 and January 2010 (see Polls on Public Response to H1N1). Our sources include 20 polls, 8 of which were conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) through cooperative agreements with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative, and the National Public Health Information Coalition. We examined the extent to which people adopted specific behaviors during three periods: the early months of the pandemic, when no vaccine was available; at the time of the initial, delayed release of vaccine to high-priority groups; and after the vaccine was widely available. We also examined the reasons why many Americans did not get vaccinated and reviewed the public's view of the government's response to the pandemic. In instances in which multiple polling questions were relevant, we present a range of findings.
Early in the pandemic, when no vaccine was available, a majority of Americans were quick to adopt two central public health recommendations (see Table 1). In the pandemic's first weeks, almost two thirds of Americans (59 to 67%) said that they or someone in their family had begun to wash their hands or clean them with sanitizer more frequently, and a majority (55%) had made preparations to stay at home if they or a family member got sick. It was also recommended that people avoid exposure to others with influenza-like symptoms, and 35 to 38% said they had done that (HSPH, April, May, and June 2009).
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