Public response to community mitigation measures for pandemic influenza.
We report the results of a national survey conducted to help public health officials understand the public's response to community mitigation interventions for a severe outbreak of pandemic influenza. Survey results suggest that if community mitigation measures are instituted, most respondents would comply with recommendations but would be challenged to do so if their income or job were severely compromised. The results also indicate that community mitigation measures could cause problems for persons with lower incomes and for racial and ethnic minorities. Twenty-four percent of respondents said that they would not have anyone available to take care of them if they became sick with pandemic influenza. Given these results, planning and public engagement will be needed to encourage the public to be prepared.
Blendon
Robert J
RJ
Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA. rblendon@hsph.harvard.edu
Koonin
Lisa M
LM
Benson
John M
JM
Cetron
Martin S
MS
Pollard
William E
WE
Mitchell
Elizabeth W
EW
Weldon
Kathleen J
KJ
Herrmann
Melissa J
MJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000379:methods*; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011634:Public Health; D011639:Public Opinion; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D014481:United States