介绍:
Parents Reportedly Don't Take the Flu Seriously Enough—and it Could Be Hurting Their Children
Over the last decade, an average of 140,000 to 810,000 people have been hospitalized annually due to complications from the flu — and a whopping 12,000 to 61,000 people per year lost their lives to the infectious disease. And yet, despite those staggering statistics, people of all ages are still not taking the flu seriously enough — and it's putting their health (and the health of their families) at risk.
That information comes from a new national survey conducted by the American Academy of Family Physicians. The survey, published Thursday (right smack-dab in the middle of flu season) polled 1,000 nationally-representative US adults ages 25-73 to determine the impact flu myths and misconceptions have on vaccination rates.
Men, it seems, greatly underestimate the dangers associated with the flu: Per the survey, 73% vastly underestimated the number of flu-related deaths last year (FYI: The CDC says there were 34,200 flu-related deaths during the 2018-2019 season.) Men are also reportedly more likely skip a flu shot themselves — along with one for their child — because they don't believe the flu is that serious.
But there's another factor in the misinformation out there: anti-vaccination movements. Certain groups — including millennials and African Americans — appear to be most susceptible to anti-vaccination rhetoric.
