Pandemic Flu Would Not Keep All Americans At Home

Although most Americans would try hard to comply with a request to stay at home to stem the spread of pandemic flu, work and lifestyle pressures would probably make this pledge impossible to keep, say researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health. The survey, called Project on the Public and Biological Security (HPBS), was conducted to help public health officials plan for a possible flu pandemic or outbreak.


A survey of 1692 adults found that:


-- 94% said they would stay at home for seven to ten days if they had pandemic flu


-- 85% said they would stay at home for seven to ten days if a member of the household had pandemic flu


-- 90% said they would stay in their town or city if told to do so


-- 57% said they would stay at home if health officials told them, even if their bosses told them to come to work


-- 35% said they would go to work if their bosses told them to come to work, and public health officials had told them to stay at home


-- 25% said they would not be able to miss work to care for a sick relative


-- 76% of people who were told to stay at home to care for a sick household member would be worried about catching the illness


-- 24% said they would have nobody to care for them if they were ill


As you can see, the statistics don't add up.


If a pandemic strikes, keeping people at home until a vaccine is available is one way of controlling its spread. However, expecting people to stay in may amount to nothing more than wishful thinking. Other measures, such as closing schools and institutions, churches, shopping centers, sports venues and all places where large numbers of people congregate could also be enforced. But if contagious people sneak out, how effective would this be?


What would happen to a nation's economy if huge numbers of people had to stay at home - people such as garbage collectors, electricity workers, people who make sure we have running water?


Click here to view the complete survey (PowerPoint)


The survey's findings will be presented today at an Institute of Medicine Workshop - Modeling Community Containment for Pandemic Influenza. Professor Marc Lpsitch will also explain what interventions took place during the 1918 flu pandemic - Spanish Flu - which probably killed approximately 50 million people.


"In the Case of an Outbreak of Pandemic Flu, Large Majority of Americans Willing to Make Major Changes in Their Lives"

"Survey Also Finds Many People Would Face Critical Work-Related Problems"

Harvard School of Public Health, Project on the Public and Biological Security

Link Here


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