New England Journal of Medicine: The Public's Response To The 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic -- The authors write: "Given the crucial role that the public plays in containing or spreading illness and in seeking related medical care, we have examined the public's response to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic and relevant public health recommendations through a comprehensive review of available data from [20] national public opinion polls conducted by telephone between April 2009 and January 2010."

"Our review of these data suggests that in the event of a future influenza pandemic, a substantial proportion of the public may not take a newly developed vaccine because they may believe that the illness does not pose a serious health threat, because they (especially parents) may be concerned about the safety of the available vaccine, or both. More work may need to be done to understand the basis of these beliefs and to address them in the case of a serious influenza outbreak. Polls during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic also suggest that public health communication efforts related to other personal influenza-prevention behaviors were effective in reaching a large swath of the public" (SteelFisher, Blendon, Bekheit and Lubell, 5/19)

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