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Fewer public health workers put off by flu outbreak
27 Jul 2009
As little as one in six public health workers would not come into work during a pandemic flu outbreak, regardless of its severity.
This is according to a survey by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, US, and marks a significant improvement from a similar poll undertaken in 2005, which revealed that more than 40 percent of employees in the sector would not report to work.
Lead author of the study Daniel Barnett said that the response of health workers is a "critical component" in preparing for a flu pandemic, despite it being "often overlooked".
"Our study is an attempt to understand the underlying factors that determine an employee's willingness to respond in an emergency," he explained.
"Overall, 16 per cent of the workers surveyed said they would not report regardless of the severity of the outbreak."
Health employees who were concerned about a pandemic's threat and were "confident" that they could fulfil their role were 31 times more likely to turn up to work than those who perceived the threat to be low and were not confident as to the effect they could have.
The UK has been more affected by the swine flu outbreak than any other country in Europe, while the US has had the greatest number of confirmed cases.
Click here to visit the Flu Quick Guide
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