Boston, MA -- The latest national survey conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) Project on the Public and Biological Security finds that when faced with a serious outbreak of pandemic flu, a large majority of Americans are willing to make major changes in their lives and cooperate with public health officials' recommendations.

However, the survey also finds that a substantial share of Americans would have no one to care for them if they become ill or would face serious financial problems if they had to stay home from work for a week or more.

To view the complete survey and Power Point slides see: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/panflu/IOM_Avian_flu.ppt

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/panflu/panflu_charts.ppt
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/panflu/panflu_release_topline.doc

Pandemic flu is a term used to describe a virulent human flu that causes a global outbreak, or pandemic, of serious illness. Because there is little natural immunity, the disease can spread easily from person to person. Currently, there is no pandemic flu, but health officials are concerned that the H5N1 avian flu which has caused about 250 illnesses and deaths among people in Asia, Africa, and Europe could become a pandemic flu. No humans or poultry in the Americas have been infected with this avian flu virus.

This HSPH survey was conducted to help public health officials in planning for a possible outbreak of pandemic flu and will be presented Thursday, Oct. 26 in Washington, D.C. at an Institute of Medicine workshop: Modeling Community Containment for Pandemic Influenza. HSPH Professor Marc Lipsitch will also be presenting historical analyses of interventions in the 1918 pandemic, comparing cities that intervened early and those that intervened late, to assess the difference in epidemic curves in these groups of cities.

This is the first report to attempt to tap the public's intentions when faced with the specific circumstances of an outbreak. The people interviewed were first read a scenario* about an outbreak of flu that spreads rapidly among humans and causes severe illness. They were then asked how they would respond to and be affected by the circumstances that would arise from such an outbreak.

Willingness to Cooperate with Public Health Recommendations                                 More than three-fourths of Americans say they would cooperate if public health officials recommended that for one month they curtail various activities of their daily lives, such as using public transportation, going to the mall, and going to church (Figure 1). More than nine in ten (94%) say they would stay at home away from other people for seven to ten days if they had pandemic flu (Figure 2). In addition, 85% say they and all members of their household would stay at home for that period if another member of their household was sick.

Nine in ten Americans (90%) say that if public health officials recommended that they and the other members of their household stay in their town or city, they were likely to stay.

These findings speak to the resilience of the American public in the face of a potential health crisis, said Robert J. Blendon, Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health.