Poll: More in U.S. expect to get H1N1 bug

PRINCETON, N.J., Aug. 31 (UPI) -- More Americans now say they expect to catch the H1N1 virus, nearly doubling the number who said in May they thought they'd catch it, a Gallup Poll indicates.

The percentage of people who said they think they'll contract the H1N1 virus, formerly known as swine flu, grew from 20 percent in May to 36 percent in the latest poll released Monday, Gallup said.

Simultaneously, substantially fewer Americans -- 59 percent compared with 74 percent in May -- expressed confidence the federal government could handle a major H1N1 flu outbreak, the poll found.

A slight majority of those polled, 55 percent (up from 46 percent in May), said they would get the H1N1 flu vaccine later this year, should one become available, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency reported.

The poll found 61 percent of Americans now believe the warnings by federal officials about the dangers of the H1N1 flu virus were real, not exaggerated. Fifty-six percent said they believe the government warnings were true when polled in May.

Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews with 1,007 adults conducted Aug. 26 as part of Gallup Daily Tracking. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.