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According to a new survey from the Harvard School of Public Health, a majority (55%) of Americans say they have made preparations to stay at home if they or a family member is sick from the H1N1 flu. About one in four report that they or a household member have avoided air travel (27%) or avoided public places where many people are gathered together (25%). About one-third (35%) of Americans say they personally have taken steps to avoid being near someone who has flu-like symptoms. In addition, 14 percent report that they personally have stopped shaking hands with people, and 12 percent say they have stopped hugging and kissing close friends or relatives. Two-thirds (67%) report that they or someone in their household has washed their hands or used hand sanitizer more frequently in response to reports about H1N1.

This is the second in a series of polls about Americans’ response to the H1N1 flu outbreak. The first survey was released May 1st. Like this new one, it showed that some of the public were taking cautionary actions that were not necessarily recommended by government officials.

This survey finds that about six in ten Americans (61%) are not currently concerned that they or someone in their immediate family may get sick from H1N1 flu in the next 12 months. The proportion that does not express concern has risen from 53 percent last week. However, three-fourths (77%) say they are closely following news about the recent H1N1 flu outbreak, the same proportion as a week ago. ”The fact that most people continue to follow the news closely suggests that there is a lot of interest and uncertainty about the risk for themselves and their families over the next year,” said Robert J. Blendon, Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Nearly half (48%) of parents of children under age 18 and currently enrolled in school are concerned that they or a family member will get sick from H1NI flu in the next 12 months. This level of concern is significantly higher than it is among people who do not have children in school (36%). Half (50%) of parents with children in school report that their schools have not given them any information about what they are doing to reduce the possible spread of H1N1 in the school. ”It might help allay parents’ concerns if schools provided them with more information about what they are doing to reduce the risk of infection,” said Blendon.

Overall, Americans are satisfied with the performance of public health officials in the H1N1 outbreak. More than eight in ten Americans say they are satisfied with the way that public health officials have managed the response to the outbreak (83%) and with the information public health officials have been providing (88%). Recently public health officials made a decision to introduce the term “H1N1 virus.” More than four in ten (43%) of Americans now say that they have heard the term and know it means the same thing as “swine flu.” This proportion has more than doubled from 20 percent a week ago.

“Perceptions of the availability of an effective medicine or vaccine against H1N1 could affect public response to the continuing outbreak. Nearly two-thirds (64%) believe that there is an effective medicine to treat the disease, up from 54 percent a week ago. Most Americans (66%) don’t believe that there is a vaccine to prevent the disease, virtually unchanged from a week ago (65%). Currently 48 percent of Americans believe that wearing a face mask will protect them from getting H1N1 flu, down from 53 percent a week ago. About three-fourths (78%) believe that wearing a face mask when sick will prevent them from spreading H1N1 flu to others, the same proportion as a week ago.”