Study Examines Public Behavior During H1N1 Pandemic
Homeland Security Today
by Anthony L. Kimery
Tuesday, 01 June 2010
Parents who said they would not get their children vaccinated were more concerned about safety
The new Harvard study, “The Public’s Response to the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic,” found that, while “early in the pandemic, when no vaccine was available a majority of Americans were quick to adopt two central public health recommendations.” In the event of another influenza pandemic, a “substantial portion of the public” may not be so willing to get immunized with another new flu vaccine.
Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the study found that “in the pandemic’s first weeks, almost two thirds of Americans (59 percent to 67 percent) 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 percent) had made preparations to stay at home if they or a family member got sick,” the study found. “It was also recommended that people avoid exposure to others with influenza-like symptoms, and 35 percent to 38 percent said they had done that.”
