# 3184
Polls are often useful tools, and when properly timed, designed, and targeted, can provide us with important snapshots of public perceptions.
Last night a Zogby poll was released indicating that less than 1/3rd of adults in the US would opt to take a `Swine Flu’ shot this fall, and that only 18% of Americans view the new A/H1N1 virus as a serious threat.
Admittedly, with the recent decline in media coverage, and the common (but misplaced) notion that the A/H1N1 virus will be no worse than seasonal influenza, public concern over this virus is probably at its nadir.
Since we don’t even have a decision to go ahead with the manufacture of a pandemic vaccine, one could argue that the timing of this poll is premature.
While this poll probably doesn’t reflect the actual number of people who will take a vaccine in the fall, it does give us an idea of the uphill battle public health agencies will face over the coming months convincing the public of the dangers of this new influenza virus.
First the report, then some discussion.
Fewer Than A Third In U.S. Would Get Swine Flu Jab
by StaffFewer than a third of U.S. adults would get a shot especially made to protect against the new H1N1 swine flu virus, according to a poll released on Thursday.
Most are simply not that worried about the new flu, which has spread around the globe, killed more than 60 people and brought the world to the brink of a pandemic, the poll of 1,442 adults found.
Only 36 percent said they got a vaccine against seasonal influenza this year, although virtually the whole population, especially everyone over 50, children, pregnant women and people with chronic conditions, are advised to get the immunization every year.
Thirty years ago, the target `audience’ for flu shots were the elderly, and those with chronic underlying conditions that made them susceptible to complications from influenza.
Over the ensuing years, however, the CDC has pushed the idea that just about everyone should get a flu shot each year.
The latest to be added to the recommended list are toddlers and school children, who it is felt, are important spreaders of the influenza virus in the community.
Despite this push, the `uptake’ of flu vaccine each year generally runs little more than a disappointing 30%-40% of the population.
For the 2009-2010 influenza season, roughly 150 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine have been ordered, but past experience has shown that not all of these doses will be used.
At least, not in a `normal’ flu year.
The upcoming flu season in the northern hemisphere may not be quite so normal, however, with the emergence of a novel A/H1N1 virus this spring.
Additionally, we’ve seen some evidence of a mutated A/H3N2 roaming around as well.
Either (or both) of these viruses could return in the fall, and provide us with a rougher than normal flu season. We could even see a pandemic from the novel A/H1N1 virus.
The problem is, right now, we don’t know for sure how our next flu season will play out.
Flu viruses are notoriously unpredictable.
Americans, including HCWs (Health Care Workers), have always been slower on the uptake of influenza vaccines than public health officials would like to see.
Part of the problem is perceived risk.
Influenza is considered by most people to be in an inconvenience, not a life threatening illness. Some people still (mistakenly) believe they can get the flu from the flu shot. And the anti-vaccine crowd has made serious inroads into the public’s perceptions of the safety of vaccines in recent years.
The 1976 `swine flu debacle’, where several hundred people saw serious adverse reactions to the vaccine, hasn’t helped that image.
I’ve no doubt that the CDC already knows that getting Americans vaccinated against this novel H1N1 virus – and the seasonal flu – this coming season is going to be a `tough sell’.
Much will depend upon the tone of media coverage this summer, and whether our neighbors in the southern hemisphere begin to report a more serious than usual flu season.
The CDC and other public health agencies will, no doubt, attempt to engage the public in conversations over the summer about the dangers of influenza, and the need to get vaccinated.
As altruistic as this sounds, this push isn’t just to spare individuals from the ordeal (and dangers) of influenza.
This push is also an attempt to reduce the enormous social, economic, and logistical burden on our health care system, and society, that a serious influenza season can inflict.
Something that could adversely affect every one of us, whether we get the flu this year or not.
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