Arizonans Know Pretty Much Nothing about H1N1, ASU Survey Finds

You'd think that close to eight months into the H1N1 epidemic, Arizonans would take a little time to educate themselves about the bug that could potentially kill them. We're talking the basics here -- like what the disease is, and how to avoid getting it. You'd be wrong. Researchers at...

By Malia Politzer

November 9, 2009

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You'd think that close to eight months into the H1N1 epidemic, Arizonans would take a little time to educate themselves about the bug that could potentially kill them. We're talking the basics here -- like what the disease is, and how to avoid getting it.

You'd be wrong.

Researchers at ASU wanted to figure out how to help healthcare officials better communicate with Arizonans about the virus, so they surveyed 700 households to find out how much people already knew, and they published the results today. As it turns out, Arizonans are pretty clueless. Among the more concerning results:

Many people surveyed didn't seem to know that H1N1 and "swine flu" were the same thing.
Many think it's harder to get H1N1 than the regular flu
Close to half either won't get the vaccine when it becomes readily available or have not yet decided.
About one-fifth didn't even know there was a vaccine.
Most didn't seem to understand how they could avoid getting it -- like by washing their hands or avoiding large groups.

The really sad part? Most of these people claimed to be following H1N1 in the news "somewhat or very closely."

You can read more about the survey results here.

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