WASHINGTON, April 17 (UPI) -- Nearly half of public health workers doubted they would report to work in the event of a flu pandemic, a recent survey said.
In a study by Johns Hopkins University and Ben-Gurion University in Israel, over 40 percent of U.S. public health workers, including clinical staff, nurses and clerical workers said they would stay home if widespread flu broke out.
That could mean a shortage of local public health workers needed to play a vital role in responding to a pandemic, from monitoring the spread of illness, to organizing the distribution of medications, to communicating critical health information to the public.
The survey also found that 66 percent of public health workers felt they would put themselves at risk of infection if they were to report to work during a pandemic.
Clinical staff members, such as physicians and nurses, were more likely to say they would report for work. Technical or support staff, which included computer entry staff and clerical workers, were the most nervous to report to work, the polling showed.
According to the results, the willingness to report to work was strongest among employees who perceived an importance in their work and responsibilities during a pandemic. This perception was lowest among technical and support workers. Fewer than one-third of all public health workers felt they would have an important role in the response to a pandemic.
The results of the survey are published in the April 2006 edition of the journal BMC Public Health.
