14th ICID - Poster Abstracts - International Society for Infectious ...

When citing these abstracts please use the following reference:
Author(s) of abstract. Title of abstract [abstract]. Int J Infect Dis 2010;14S1: Abstract number.
Please note that the official publication of the International Journal of Infectious Diseases 2010, Volume 14, Supplement 1
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Final Abstract Number: 32.003
Session: Travel Medicine and Travel Health
Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Time: 12:30-13:30
Room: Poster & Exhibition Area/Ground Level
Type: Poster Presentation
Attitudes towards Avian influenza and sources of media information in travelers to developing
countries
P. Han 1 , E. Yanni 2 , E. Jentes 3 , X. Davis 1 , W. Pollard 4 , C. Marano 4
1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA, 2 Centers for disease Control and
Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA, 3 CDC, Atlanta, USA, 4 CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA
Background: Although there is an on-going 2009 H1N1 influenza epidemic, avian influenza virus
(A/H5N1) continues to be a significant public health threat. Currently, 442 cases have been
confirmed worldwide with 262 deaths, mostly in Asian countries. Risk of disease may be higher in
travelers to developing destinations, where these cases occur more frequently. This study
investigated travelers to developing countries (TDC) and described their attitudes towards
A/H5N1 and defined their sources of media information in order to inform focused avian influenza
prevention campaigns for travelers.
Methods: Data were analyzed from the 2008 Porter-Novelli ConsumerStyles survey, an annual
national mail-in survey that gathers demographic information and media/consumer information
about the US population. TDC were defined as persons traveling outside the United States for 1
day anywhere other than Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia, or New Zealand. Odds ratios (OR)
and logistic regression were used.
Results: Of 10,108 respondents, 913 (9%) reported being TDC; compared to non-TDC, TDC
were less likely to be worried about getting ill from A/H5N1 (OR=0.5, CI=0.4-0.8, p=0.002).
Further, TDC were less likely to have followed news stories about A/H5N1 (OR=0.72, CI=0.56-
0.95, p=0.02) and were more likely to feel that news media were "exaggerating the dangers"
(OR=1.3, CI=1.1-1.5, p=0.006), compared to feeling the "news reports are about right."
Overall, TDC were more likely to refer to the Internet (OR=1.5, CI=1.3-1.7, p