(cid:1)ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE Knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of health professionals in relation to A/H1N1 influenza and its vaccine Amanda Lo´pez-Picado1, Antxon Apin˜aniz2, Amaia Latorre Ramos1, Erika Miranda-Serrano1, Raquel Cobos1, Naiara Parraza-Dı´ez1, Patricia Amezua1, Mo´nica Martinez- Cengotitabengoa3,4 and Felipe Aizpuru1,5,6* 1Araba ResearchUnit, ArabaUniversity Hospital, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain;2ArabaPrimary CareUnit, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain; 3CIBERSAM, Centrode Investigacio´n Biome´dica enRed deSalud Mental, Madrid, Spain;4Department ofPsychiatry,ArabaUniversitary Hospital, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain;5CIBER de Epidemiologı´a ySaludPu´blica(CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain;6Facultyof Medicine, University ofthe Basque Country,Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain Objective: Todeterminetheintentionofhealthprofessionals,doctorsandnurses,concerningwhetherornot to be vaccinated against A/H1N1 influenza virus, and their perception of the severity of this pandemic comparedwithseasonalflu. MaterialandMethods: Across-sectionalstudywascarriedoutbasedonanquestionnairee-mailedtohealth professionals in public healthcare centres in Vitoria between 6 and 16 November 2009; the percentage of respondentswhowantedtobevaccinatedandwhoperceivedthepandemicflutocarryahighriskofdeath werecalculated. Results: Atotalof115peoplecompletedthequestionnaireofwhom61.7%(n(cid:1)71)weredoctorsand38.3% (n(cid:1)44)werenurses.Ofthese,33.3%(n(cid:1)23)ofdoctorsand13.6%(n(cid:1)6)ofnursesintendedtobevaccinated (p(cid:1)0.019).Evenamongthosewhoconsideredthemselvestobeatahighrisk,70.6%(n(cid:1)48)ofdoctorsand 31.7% (n(cid:1)13)of nurses participating in thestudy (p(cid:1)0.001) plannedtohavethevaccination. Conclusions: Most health professionals, and in particular nurses, hadno intention to bevaccinated against A/H1N1influenzavirus atthebeginning of thevaccination campaign. Keywords: A/H1N1influenzavirus;vaccination;healthprofessionals;doctors;nurses Received:4 September 2011; Revised:25 October 2011; Accepted:16 November 2011;Published:11January2012 Many international organisations have high- keenonbeingvaccinated:ithasbeenestimatedthatoverall lighted the importance of vaccination against only between 40 and 50% of health professionals are seasonalfluforhealthprofessionals(1(cid:2)4).The vaccinatedagainsttheseasonalfluvirus(6,7),andthese recommendation is based onvarious factors such as the ratesareevenloweramongnurses(8(cid:2)10). increased riskof complications associatedwith infection Many reasons have been put forward for not being in patients in at-risk groups, the tendency to go to work vaccinated: fearof adverse reactions, underestimation of despiteflusymptoms,andthe highrates oftransmission severity of the flu epidemic, lack of time and doubts among colleagues. All these elements translate to an concerning safety, among others (11(cid:2)14). Despite this, it increase in costs and deaths. seems that among health professionals who are better Infact,ithasbeendemonstratedthatthevaccinationof informed and know the risk factors more tend to accept health professionals is associated with a decrease in the the vaccination, so a deeper understanding of the number of deaths of patients attended at home and vaccinemayhelptoincreasewillingnesstobevaccinated of patients with high-risk medical conditions (5). (13(cid:2)17). Despiteseveralstudieshavingdemonstratedthemultiple In 2009, the seasonal flu vaccination campaign was advantages of vaccination, health professionals are not preceded by that of the A/H1N1 flu virus. Since the EmergingHealthThreatsJournal2012.#2012AmandaLo´pez-Picadoetal.ThisisanOpenAccessarticledistributedunderthetermsoftheCreativeCommons 1 Attribution-Noncommercial3.0UnportedLicense(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/),permittingallnon-commercialuse,distribution,andreproductionin anymedium,providedtheoriginalworkisproperlycited. Citation:EmergingHealthThreatsJournal2012,5:7266-DOI:10.3402/ehtj.v5i0.7266 (pagenumbernotforcitationpurpose) AmandaLo´pez-Picadoetal. outset, the A/H1N1 virus has raised great concern in effectiveness of the A/H1N1 flu vaccine, and research society,giventhatitishighlyinfectious,moresothanthe undertaken to produce the vaccine. The response cate- seasonal flu virus (18) and that the prevalence is higher gories were ‘yes’, ‘no’, and ‘don’t know/no opinion’, the among children (19). latter leading to classification as undecided. Given these factors, vaccination against this type of Lastly, data related to understanding of the routes virus is particularly important. In this context, it is of transmission, the perception of risk associated with essential to remember that any preventive measures, the virus, and the comparison of A/H1N1 flu with including vaccines, are ineffective without the collabora- seasonal virus were collected in the final section of the tion of the population and health professionals (20(cid:2)23). questionnaire. Adherencetorecommendationsofthissortisdetermined by perception of the level of danger (5), and of the effectiveness of the measures (21, 24). In short, the Analysisoftheresults perception of danger and the understanding of health Descriptive statistics were calculated for the main char- professionals of the A/H1N1 flu virus may directly acteristicsofthesample.Themainoutcomewasassessed affect acceptance of and adherence to these measures by calculating the percentage of doctors and nurseswho and influence the perception of the general population had the intention to be vaccinated against the A/H1N1 (25, 26). flu virus, comparedwith those who did not intend to be For these reasons, the aim of this study was to vaccinated, in the cases of the vaccine being free and of determine the intention to be vaccinated against A/ having to pay for it (t10). Any association between H1N1 flu virus among health professionals in relation intention to vaccinate and sociodemographic variables to levels of understanding, attitudes and perception of includingage,sex,levelofeducation,civilstatus,employ- risk just before the vaccination campaign at the peakof mentstatusandunderstandingoftheroutesoftransmis- the epidemic. sion was explored using the Chi square test and p for linear trend for ordinal variables. In addition, the Materials and methods intention to be vaccinated was calculated as a function An observational cross-sectional study was carried out of prior behaviour, namely, whether or not they had amonghealthprofessionalsoftheBasqueHealthSystem previouslybeenvaccinatedagainsttheseasonalfluvirus. in Vitoria-Gasteiz. Theanalysisofthemainvariables(intentiontovaccinate Data collection started on 6 November, coinciding against the seasonal and A/H1N1 flu viruses, having with the peak of the A/H1N1 virus epidemic in the previously been vaccinated against seasonal flu, percep- Basque Country, and ended on 16 November, when the tionofrisk,anddoubtsconcerningtheeffectivenessand vaccination campaign was launched in our autonomous safetyof the vaccine) were adjusted for age and sex. We region,despitethefactthattheexpectedsamplesizehad considered a level of significance of a(cid:1)0.05. Statistical not been reached. analysiswascarriedout usingthe Statistical Packagefor The questionnaire was sent by email to doctors (n(cid:1) the Social Science (SPSS, version 16) for Windows. 900) and nurses (n(cid:1)1,326) of the acute care public hospitals of Vitoria-Gasteiz (Txagorritxu and Santiago) and primary care health centres in Araba. They were Ethicalapproval given the option of answering electronically or by post, The study was approved by the Clinical Research Ethics sending the questionnaire to the Research Unit, by Committees of Txagorritxu and Santiago Hospitals. internal mail within the Basque Health Service/Osaki- detza. The data collected in the survey were entered into a dedicated computer database created using Microsoft Results Access software. Generalcharacteristics Studyvariables Of the 2,226 emails sent (900 to doctors and 1,326 to AquestionnairebasedonthatusedbyLauetal.(20)was nurses), 115 questionnaires were returned completed, of producedconsistingof28questionsthatgatherinforma- which 71 (61.7%) and 44 (38.3%) were received from tion concerning views on vaccination against A/H1N1 doctors and nurses, respectively. The sociodemographic virus and the perception of risk (Appendix 1). characteristics of the two groups are shown in Table 1. Questions were asked to assess the attitude of profes- Overall,64.3%(n(cid:1)74)ofthesamplehadbeenvaccinated sionals towards vaccination against A/H1N1 flu virus against the seasonal flu at some stage. This percentage both if it were free of charge and if it had a cost of t10. was higher (p(cid:1)0.018) among doctors (71.8%, n(cid:1)51) There were also questions concerning the safety and than nurses (52.3%, n(cid:1)23). 2 Citation:EmergingHealthThreatsJournal2012,5:7266-DOI:10.3402/ehtj.v5i0.7266 (pagenumbernotforcitationpurpose) A/H1N1influenzaanditsvaccine Table1. Sociodemographiccharacteristics UnderstandingoftheA/H1N1pandemicandroutes oftransmission n(cid:1)115 Doctors(n(cid:1)71) Nurses(n(cid:1)44) Withregardstotheroutesoftransmission,74.6%(n(cid:1)53) of doctors and 75% (n(cid:1)33) of nurses were properly Sex informed. Among these, 65.1% had obtained the infor- Male 29(40.8%) 6(13.6%) mation through colleagues, while 20.9% cited the media, Female 42(59.2%) 38(86.4%) and the remaining respondents had acquired the knowl- Age edge from other sources. Media9SD 42.599.9 43.3910.1 530years 10(15.4%) 6(14.3%) Perceptionofriskofinfectionandseverityoftheflu 30(cid:2)65years 55(84.6%) 36(85.7%) Doctors had a higher perception of risk of infection by A/H1N1 influenza virus than nurses. They considered Maritalstatus that they, and their own families and the general Single 17(25.4%) 13(29.5%) population, were at high risk of becoming infected Married/couple 50(74.6%) 31(70.5%) (pB0.05). Data regarding this section of the question- naire are shown in Table 2. AttitudetowardsvaccinationagainstA/H1N1 With regards to mortality, 68.1% (n(cid:1)47) of doctors influenzavirus and79.1%(n(cid:1)34)ofnursesthoughtthat,in2009,oneto Atotalof33.3%(n(cid:1)23)ofdoctorshadtheintentionto 10peopleweregoingtodiedueto thistypeofflu inthe be vaccinated against the A/H1N1 flu virus, compared local area (Vitoria-Gasteiz). On the other hand, 14.5% with 13.6% (n(cid:1)6) of nurses (p(cid:1)0.023). These percen- (n(cid:1)10) and 16.3% (n(cid:1)7) of doctors and nurses, tages were even lower if the vaccine was not free (t10), respectively, thought that nobody was going to die, both among the doctors (27.5%; n(cid:1)19) and the nurses whereas 14.5% (n(cid:1)10) of doctors and 4.7% (n(cid:1)2) of nurses thought that between 10 and 50 individuals (p(cid:1) (6.8%; n(cid:1)3). 0.247) would die. Amongthosewhoconsideredthemselvestobeathigh Atotalof41.4%(n(cid:1)29)ofdoctorsand45.5%(n(cid:1)20) riskofcontractingA/H1N1flu,70.6%(n(cid:1)48)and31.7% ofnursesbelievedthattheharmcausedbytheA/H1N1flu (n(cid:1)13)ofdoctorsandnurses,respectively,indicatedthat virus was similar to that of the seasonal influenzavirus they would be vaccinated. There was a statistically (p(cid:1)0.015), while 43.7% (n(cid:1)31) of doctors and 59.1% significant difference between the two groups, doctors (n(cid:1)26)ofnursesthoughtthatA/H1N1fluwouldhavea and nurses (p(cid:1)0.002). muchlowerrateofmortalitythanseasonalflu(p(cid:1)0.17). Among the nurses, no significant difference was detected in intention to be vaccinated between those Discussion whohad(n(cid:1)4;11.4%)andhadnothadtheseasonalflu Theprimaryobjectiveofthisstudywastodeterminethe jab previously (n(cid:1)5; 11.4%, p(cid:1)0.166). Likewise, inten- intentionof healthprofessionalstobevaccinated aswell tiontobevaccinatedwasnotsignificantlyhigheramong astheirperceptionoftheseverityoftheinfectioncaused doctorswhohadbeenpreviouslybeenvaccinatedatleast by the A/H1N1 influenzavirus, as investigated by other onceagainsttheseasonalfluvirus(n(cid:1)51),41.2%(n(cid:1)21, researchers (13, 15, 16, 27(cid:2)29), in relation to this and p(cid:1)0.126) expressing an intention to receive the H1/N1 other pandemics associatedwith various subtypes of the vaccine. influenzavirus.Atotalof2,226questionnairesweresent of which just 115 were returned completed (5.2%). This overall percentage is lower than that achieved in other AcceptanceoftheA/H1N1influenzavirusvaccine studies(12,15,25,26)andinotherprojectscarriedoutin andperceptionofitseffectiveness A total of 69.8% (n(cid:1)30) of the nurseswho participated Table2. Doyouthinkthereisahighriskofsufferingfrom objectedtobeingvaccinated,whilethisfigurewas48.5% swineflu (n(cid:1)33) among the doctors (p(cid:1)0.04). Significant differ- enceswerealsofoundbetweenthegroupswithregardsto Yes(%) No(%) p the perception of effectiveness of the vaccine. Among You? Doctors 54(78.3) 15(21.7) 0.013 respondents, 63.3% (n(cid:1)38) of the doctors considered Nurses 26(59.1) 18(40.9) that the vaccine was effective, compared with 35.1% Ownfamily? Doctors 58(84.1) 11(15.9) 0.01 (n(cid:1)13)ofthenurses(p(cid:1)0.044).Evenamonghealthcare Nurses 28(63.6) 16(36.4) workers who trusted in the effectiveness of the vaccine Generalpopulation? Doctors 56(81.2) 13(18.8) 0.031 (n(cid:1)51), more than half did not intend to be vaccinated Nurses 25(56.8) 19(43.2) (n(cid:1)26; 51%). 3 Citation:EmergingHealthThreatsJournal2012,5:7266-DOI:10.3402/ehtj.v5i0.7266 (pagenumbernotforcitationpurpose) AmandaLo´pez-Picadoetal. thesameareabythisresearchteam(23),thoughtherate thefindingsofastudycarriedoutbyLauetal.(20),ina of response from nursing staff was similar to that different cultural setting, Hong Kong, in which 73% of obtained by other researchers (2, 3). The overall low the respondents from the general population had no rateofresponsemaybeduetotheshortwindowoftime objections to being vaccinated. during which questionnaires were accepted, given the In our study, the response was stronger among the importance of it being completed before the vaccination nurses, who in most cases objected to being vaccinated campaign began. and believed that there had not been sufficient research The overall percentage of thosevaccinated against the on the vaccine. This, together with the fact that manyof seasonal flu at least once before was higher than that themquestionedtheeffectivenessofthevaccine,leadsus observed in other studies (30), though similar values to toconcludethat,inoursample,themainreasonsfornot thosereportedelsewherewerefoundfornurses(31),who, beingvaccinatedaretheperceptionoflackofsafetyand in general, are less keen to be vaccinated (5, 6). The ofeffectivenessofthevaccine,whichhavealsobeencited overallhigherratemaybeduetothefactthatthevaccine byother researchers (11, 13). is offered for free in the centres themselves, which According to our results, however, these are not the facilitates access andhencetends toincreasethenumber only factors that can affect the levels of vaccination: of staff vaccinated (13). Nevertheless, various authors specifically, a lower rate of intention to vaccinate was have suggested that easy access to vaccines is not detected among the health personnel who perceived the sufficient and that it should be combined with other pandemicasalow-risksituation,inagreementwithwhat measuressuchaseducationalprogrammesandeconomic hasbeenobservedinotherstudies(11,23,35).Whenthe incentives to achieve high vaccination rates (31, 32). In dataarebrokendown,wenotethatagainitisthenurses our study, we did not focus on assessing the effect of whoreportthelowestratesofintentiontobevaccinated. incentives but we did observe that having to pay for This is supported by the fact that quite a few of the vaccinesconsiderablydecreasedtheintentiontovaccinate respondentsconsideredthatwhiletheyandtheirfamilies in both groups, particularly in the case of nurses. Some were at risk of being infected, they believed that the authors have recommended the introduction of health mortality associatedwith the A/H1N1 viruswas low. education campaigns especially focused on this profes- Despite numerous studies having demonstrated a sionalgroup(33,34),butseveralstudiessuggestthatsuch greater risk of contracting A/H1N1 flu in young people programmes do not achieve higher rates of vaccine (39)andagreaterriskofseveresymptomsininfantsand acceptance (35(cid:2)37). older individuals (40, 41), among the healthcareworkers On the other hand, the intention to vaccinate against surveyed such findings did not seem to increase percep- A/H1N1 influenza virus among respondents is similar tionofriskortranslatetoagreaterintentiontovaccinate (25.7%) to other studies in Spain (38), and is within the againstthepandemic.Indeed,weobservednosignificant wide range reported to date from studies conducted variationsintheopinionoftheprofessionalssurveyedby elsewhere (9, 20, 26, 39, 40) (11(cid:2)67%). A greater will- ageorbysex,butrathertheirintentionswereaffectedby ingness tovaccinate was also detected among thosewho personal perception of the risks (11, 23, 35) and their had been vaccinated before against seasonal flu, in confidence in the effectiveness of the vaccine (11, 17). agreementwithwhatisfoundintheliterature(13,26,41). In short, it is essential to determine the barriers to Incontrasttofindingsofotherresearchers(16),wedid being vaccinated among health professionals, since this notfindahighertendencytobevaccinatedamongthose low willingness not only has an negative impact on the whowereproperlyinformed.Thismightbeattributableto level of absenteeism, and hence on the healthcare thecriteriafollowedfordeterminingwhetherrespondents provided(16,29,31),butalsoontherateoftransmission were ‘properly informed’ and the personal perception of of the disease between health professionals and patients, individualhealthprofessionals,amongotherfactors. (13, 32) and this, without any doubt, is the most The main reported arguments against vaccination are important consequence. thefearoftheoccurrenceofadversereactions(13)andthe Moreover, the effect of the beliefs of health profes- lack of effectiveness (11, 20). In relation to this, several sionals, in particular those of doctors (38), on patients studies have found differences between the two groups regardingcertainissuesshouldnotbeunderestimated,as surveyed,namelythatfornursesthemainobstacletobeing patientswhoareadvisedbytheirdoctortobevaccinated vaccinated tends to be a fear of adverse reactions (13), tendtofollowthisadvice.Hence,anymeasuretoimprove whereasfordoctorsitisthelackofeffectiveness(11,17). thelevel of understandingconcerning thisand anyother Inourstudy,mostrespondentshadobjectionstobeing pandemic among health professionals translates to a vaccinated and did not trust in the effectiveness of the greater awareness among the general population and, vaccine. This is in agreement with the results obtained correspondingly, a higher rate of vaccination (38). with regards to this pandemic in the general population Thelimitationsofthestudyincludetheshortwindowof inourgeographicalarea(23,38),butverydifferentfrom timeavailableforsendingandreceivingthequestionnaires 4 Citation:EmergingHealthThreatsJournal2012,5:7266-DOI:10.3402/ehtj.v5i0.7266 (pagenumbernotforcitationpurpose) A/H1N1influenzaanditsvaccine given the imminent start of the vaccination campaign, 5. NicholKL.Efficacyandeffectivenessofinfluenzavaccination. whichledtoalowrateofresponsetothesurvey.Onthe Vaccine.2008;26Suppl4:D17(cid:2)22. 6. Walker FJ, Singleton JA, Lu P, Wooten KG, Strikas RA. otherhand,weconsideredthatthemostimportantissue Influenza vaccination of healthcare workers in the was to avoid the bias of surveying individuals who had United States, 1989(cid:2)2002. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. already been vaccinated. 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Chowell G, Echevarr´ıa-Zuno S, Viboud C, Simonsen L, UniversityHospital.Infection.2009;37:197(cid:2)202. TameriusJ,MillerMA,etal.Characterizingtheepidemiology 31. Lindley MC, Horlick GA, Shefer AM, Shaw FE, Gorji M. ofthe2009influenzaA/H1N1pandemicinMexico.PLoSMed. Assessingstateimmunizationrequirementsforhealthcarework- 2011;8(5):e1000436. ersandpatients.AmJPrevMed.2007;32:459(cid:2)65. 32. CanningHS.Healthcareworkersbeliefsaboutinfluenzavaccine *FelipeAizpuru and reasons for non-vaccination*a cross sectional survey. J ArabaResearchUnit ClinNurs.2005;14:922(cid:2)5. ArabaUniversityHospital 33. To KW, Lee S, Chan TO, Lee SS. Exploring determinants of C/JoseAtxoteguis/n acceptanceofthepandemicinfluenzaA(H1N1)2009vaccina- 01013CPVitoria-Gasteiz(A´lava) tioninnurse.AmJInfectControl.2010;38:623(cid:2)30. Spain 34. Ofstead CL, Tucker SJ, Beebe TJ, Poland GA. Influenza Tel:(cid:4)34945007413 vaccination among registered nurses: Information receipt, Fax:(cid:4)34945007336 knowledge,anddecision-makingataninstitutionwithamulti- Email:[email protected] 6 Citation:EmergingHealthThreatsJournal2012,5:7266-DOI:10.3402/ehtj.v5i0.7266 (pagenumbernotforcitationpurpose) A/H1N1influenzaanditsvaccine Dear Colleagues, 10. Do you know which are the at-risk groups with respect to A(H1N1) flu? The Research Unit of Txagorritxu Hospital and 1. Yes Research Commission for the Health Region of Araba 2. No arestudyingviewsconcerningA/H1N1influenza.Wewill 11.Ifyouwereinoneoftheat-riskgroups,wouldyou be most grateful if you take part. be vaccinated? Theinformationcollectedwillremainanonymous.You 1. Yes can return the completed questionnaire by e-mail (to 2. No [email protected]) orthroughtheinternalmail,addressingittothesecretary 12.DoyouthinkthatA(H1N1)fluisspreadbycoughs of the Txagorritxu Hospital’s Research Unit. and sneezes? 1. Yes QUESTIONNAIRE 2. No 13. Do you think that A(H1N1) flu can be spread by a) General questions physical contact (e.g., shaking hands)? 1. Sex 1. Yes 1. Woman 2. No 2. Man 14. Do you think that A(H1N1) flu can be spread by 2. Yearof birth contactwithcontaminatedsurfaces(e.g.,bytouch- ing a door handle)? 3. Profession 1. Yes 1. Doctor 2. No 2. Nurse 3. Other c) Your perception of the severityof the A(H1N1) flu 4. Civil status 1. Single 15. What percentage of the general population doyou 2. Married/With partner think will get A(H1N1) flu? 5. What is your employment status? 1. B1% 1. Permanent contract 2. 1(cid:2)5% 2. Temporary contract 3. (cid:4)5% 3. Casual contract 16. Doyou think that A(H1N1) flu could have severe 6. Have you ever received a seasonal flu jab? andirreversibleeffectsonthehealthofthegeneral 1. Yes population? 2. No 1. Yes 2. No 7.Whathasbeenyourprincipalsourceofinformation on A(H1N1) flu? 17. How many deaths do you think the A(H1N1) flu 1. Healthcare colleagues will cause in our region (Vitoria-Gasteiz) in 2009? 2. The media 1. None 3. Other 2. 1(cid:2)10 3. 11(cid:2)50 4. (cid:4)50 b) Hypothetical situations 18.DoyouthinkthatsomepeoplehavehadA(H1N1) 8. If it were free, would you have the A(H1N1) flu flu and have not realised? jab? 1. Yes 1. Yes 2. No 2. No 19.Doyouthinkthatthisillnesswillaffectmostofthe 9. Andwould have the jab if it cost t10? population in our region (Vitoria-Gasteiz)? 1. Yes 1. Yes 2. No 2. No 7 Citation:EmergingHealthThreatsJournal2012,5:7266-DOI:10.3402/ehtj.v5i0.7266 (pagenumbernotforcitationpurpose) AmandaLo´pez-Picadoetal. d) Perception of risk 1. Many fewer 2. Slightly fewer 20. Do you think that you are at high risk of getting 3. The same A(H1N1) flu? 4. Slightly more 1. Yes 5. Many more 2. No 25.HowmuchharmdoyouthinktheA(H1N1)fluwill 21.Doyouthinkthatthereisahighriskthatsomeone cause compared to seasonal flu? (What level of inyour family will get A(H1N1) flu? damagewillbecausedtothebodybyA(H1N1)flu 1. Yes in relation to seasonal flu?) 2. No 1. Much less 2. Slightly less 22.Doyouthinkthatthereisahighriskthatmembers 3. The same of the general population will get A(H1N1) flu? 4. Slightly more 1. Yes 5. Much more 2. No 26. Do you have any objections to receiving the A(H1N1) flu vaccine? e) Comparison of A(H1N1) flu with seasonal flu 1. Yes 2. No 23. How many deaths do you think A(H1N1) flu will cause compared to normal (seasonal) flu? That is, 27. Do you think that the vaccine is effective at we are asking you to rate how the mortality preventing A(H1N1) flu? 1. Yes associated with A(H1N1) flu compares to that of 2. No seasonal flu. 1. Many fewer 28.Doyouthinkthattherehasbeensufficientresearch 2. Slightly fewer into thevaccine?(Inyouropinion, havetherebeen 3. The same enough studies/clinical trials/research to demon- 4. Slightly more strate the effectiveness of the vaccine?) 5. Many more 1. Yes 2. No 24. How many people do you think will be infected compared to normal (seasonal) flu? (That is, how do you think the rate of infection will compare THANK-YOU VERY MUCH FORYOUR HELP between A(H1N1) flu and seasonal flu?) 8 Citation:EmergingHealthThreatsJournal2012,5:7266-DOI:10.3402/ehtj.v5i0.7266 (pagenumbernotforcitationpurpose)