Public Views of H1N1 III
FIELD DATES: June 22-28, 2009
SELECT FINDINGS:
- Likelihood of serious outbreak – Approximately six in ten Americans (59%) believed it is very or somewhat likely that there will be widespread cases of Influenza A (H1N1) with people getting very sick in the coming fall or winter. Parents were more likely than people without children to believe this.
- Concerns about the outbreak –More than half of Americans (61%) were not concerned about their personal risk-that is, that they or their family members will get sick from influenza A (H1N1) in the next year. The World Health Organization’s decision to raise the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 6 did not dramatically impact Americans’ level of concern about their personal risk.
- Problems for parents – About half (51%) of parents with children in school reported that if schools/daycares closed for two weeks, they or someone else in their household would likely have to miss work in order to care for the children. Forty-three percent of these parents reported that they or someone in their household would likely lose pay or income and have money problems; 26% of these parents reported that they or someone in their household would likely lose their job or business as a result of having to stay home in order to care for the children.
- Recent experience with H1N1 – 27% of Americans reported that there had been cases of influenza A (H1N1) among people in their community, and 18% reported that schools in their community had closed due to influenza A (H1N1).
METHODS AND SAMPLE: Telephone poll conducted with a representative national sample of 1,823 adults age 18 and over, including oversamples of parents, non-Hispanic African Americans and Hispanics, and specifically parents who are non-Hispanic African Americans and Hispanics. 315 non-Hispanic African Americans and 260 Hispanics were interviewed. The number of parents in total is 744, which includes 115 non-Hispanic African American parents and 131 Hispanic parents.
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