Swine Flu Poll for BBC News

Public poll on swine flu conducted for BBC News published 30 July 2009

Date Published: 29 Jul 2009

Categories: Health | Public and communities | Public Sector | Social | UK

Description

• Most people (51%) wrongly think Tamiflu can protect you against infection by swine flu
• This figure rises to 69% among 18-24 year-olds (who are also the group most likely to think it ok to fake symptoms in order to get Tamiflu)
• The proportion of British people who know someone personally who has had swine flu or suspected swine flu is massive – 43%
• People in the 35-44 age group are most likely to know someone who has had it, and those in 65+ age group least likely
• People from households with children are much more likely than people from households without children to know someone who has had it – 57% to 38%
• Almost one in ten people (9%) knows someone personally who is getting Tamiflu without having symptoms
• This rises to 15% among 18-24 year-olds – the group most ignorant of what Tamiflu actually does
• Almost one in ten people (8%) thinks it is ok for people to say they have swine flu symptoms when they don’t, in order to get a Tamiflu supply.