The community's attitude towards swine flu and pandemic influenza

Abstract

Objective: Design, setting and participants: Cross‐sectional survey of Sydney residents during WHO Phase 5 of pandemic (H1N1) 2009. Members of the public were approached in shopping and pedestrian malls in seven areas of Sydney between 2 May and 29 May 2009 to undertake the survey. The survey was also made available by email. Main outcome measures: Perceived personal risk and seriousness of the disease, opinion on the government and health authorities’ response, feelings about quarantine and infection control methods, and potential compliance with antiviral prophylaxis. Results: Of 620 respondents, 596 (96%) were aware of pandemic (H1N1) 2009, but 44% (273/620) felt they did not have enough information about the situation. More than a third (38%; 235/620) ranked their risk of catching influenza during a pandemic as low. When asked how they felt pandemic influenza would affect their health if they were infected, only a third (33%; 206/620) said “very seriously”. Just over half of the respondents (58%; 360/620) believed the pandemic would be over within a year. Respondents rated quarantine and vaccination with a pandemic vaccine as more effective than hand hygiene for the prevention of pandemic influenza. Conclusions: Emphasising the efficacy of recommended actions (such as hand hygiene), risks from the disease and the possible duration of the outbreak may help to promote compliance with official advice.

Awareness, attitudes, and practices related to the swine influenza pandemic among the Saudi public

“…The findings of the present study were similar to those of a study conducted in 2005 on precautionary measures using a hypothetical influenza pandemic, where 5 european countries and 3 asian regions with 3,436 participants were involved [20]. However, these findings were not in agreement with those of two previous studies, one in the United Kingdom [7], and the other in Australia [10] where low levels of anxiety towards swine flu were detected. Education in the present study was the only significant predictor of concern, where the level of education was inversely related to the level of concern (in terms of concern score),while employment was the only individual variable to affect inmplementing precautionary measures in a previous study [20].…”

Factors Affecting Acceptance and Intention to Receive Pandemic Influenza A H1N1 Vaccine among Primary School Children: A Cross-Sectional Study in Birmingham, UK

“…Low levels of anxiety towards the swine flu pandemic were shown in recent papers from the UK and Australia [19, 20]. Although 15.4% of our respondents seemed also to hold this view, more than 50% did believe it was a serious threat, and it was found to be an important factor affecting uptake.…”

“…In addition, most of the research about reasons for accepting/refusing influenza vaccine (either seasonal or pandemic) has been undertaken amongst healthcare workers [11–15] and more recently healthy adults [16–18]. Studies so far have revealed that there were low levels of anxiety towards the swine flu pandemic [19, 20]. This is believed to be due to early reports suggesting symptoms and prognosis of a similar severity to seasonal flu, encouraging the general population to consider themselves at low risk.…”

“…This is believed to be due to early reports suggesting symptoms and prognosis of a similar severity to seasonal flu, encouraging the general population to consider themselves at low risk. Concerns about the safety of the swine flu vaccine and fear of adverse side effects have also been revealed to be important issues to address and this may be due to the misperception that the safety testing of such “fast-tracked” vaccines is insufficient, leaving a greater possibility of adverse health problems [20, 21]. These may have a particular effect when considering vaccinating children.…”

Acceptance and Adverse Effects of H1N1 Vaccinations Among a Cohort of National Guard Health Care Workers during the 2009 Hajj Season

“…Safety and efficacy are critical factors in determining the rate of vaccination in the general population. Governments that want to promote H1N1 vaccination will need to gain a better understanding of the barriers to and facilitators of acceptability before implementing full-scale vaccination programs [19]. …”