Poll: U.S. split over flu media coverage

PRINCETON, N.J., May 7 (UPI) -- U.S. residents split over H1N1 flu news reporting, with nearly equal numbers indicating media exaggerated the dangers or got it right, a Gallup poll indicates.

Forty-five percent of poll respondents said they thought the news media exaggerated the dangers of the virus, formerly known as swine flu, while 46 percent said coverage was appropriate, results of the Gallup/USA Today poll released Thursday indicated. Six percent said media didn't take the danger seriously enough.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta reported 642 lab-confirmed H1N1 flu cases, including two deaths, in the United States. Worldwide, more than 2,000 cases and 44 deaths have been confirmed.

Most U.S. residents do not see H1N1 flu as something likely to affect them or their families, said Gallup, based in Princeton, N.J. Only 20 percent say it is very or somewhat likely that they or someone in their family would contract the virus, while 79 percent said it was not too likely or not likely at all.

While H1N1 so far hasn't produced consequences health officials feared initially, the World Health Organization, based in Geneva, Switzerland, and other experts warn it may return in a more virulent form when the flu season begins in the fall. Asked if they would get a vaccine if one were developed, 46 percent of respondents said yes while 52 percent said no.

Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,012 adults conducted Tuesday. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.