Volume 16, Number 1—January 2010
Dispatch
Perceptions and Reactions with Regard to Pneumonic Plague
G. James Rubin
, Richard Amlôt, M. Brooke Rogers, Ian Hall, Steve Leach, John Simpson, and Simon Wessely
, Richard Amlôt, M. Brooke Rogers, Ian Hall, Steve Leach, John Simpson, and Simon Wessely
Table 1
Perceptions of and precautionary behavioral responses to a hypothetical pneumonic plague outbreak affecting 3 persons, United Kingdom, September 2007*
| Predictor | Variable level, no. responses |
Association, adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very or fairly likely | Not very or not at all likely (reference) | Stock up on food, n = 673 (67.2%)† | Leave the area, n = 132 (13.3%)† | Avoid others, n = 746 (74.2%)† | Seek medical advice, n = 667 (66.4%)† | Try to obtain antimicrobial drugs, n = 591 (59.4%)† | ||
| If someone catches pneumonic plague, they would feel unwell within 24 h | ||||||||
| 690 |
149 |
1.7 (1.2–2.5) |
1.3 (0.7–2.3) |
1.4 (0.9–2.1) |
1.6 (1.2–2.4)‡ |
1.7 (1.2–2.5) |
||
| There have been cases of pneumonic plague in Britain in the past 10 y | ||||||||
| 228 |
687 |
0.9 (0.6–1.2) |
0.8 (0.5–1.3) |
0.8 (0.6–1.2) |
1.1 (0.8–1.6) |
0.8 (0.6–1.1) |
||
| If you come within 6 feet of someone who had pneumonic plague and was clearly ill, you would probably catch the disease | ||||||||
| 735 |
237 |
2.8 (2.0–3.8) |
1.4 (0.8–2.3) |
2.1 (1.5–2.9) |
2.1 (1.5–2.9) |
1.9 (1.4–2.6) |
||
| If you come within 6 feet of someone who had pneumonic plague but who had not yet developed any signs of illness, you would probably catch the disease | ||||||||
| 623 |
333 |
2.0 (1.5–2.7) |
2.0 (1.3–3.2) |
2.2 (1.6–3.0) |
2.1 (1.5–2.8) |
1.9 (1.4–2.5) |
||
| Unless they receive immediate treatment, then most people who catch pneumonic plague will die from it | ||||||||
| 767 |
169 |
1.9 (1.3–2.7) |
2.7 (1.4–5.4) |
1.9 (1.3–2.7) |
2.1 (1.4–3.0) |
1.6 (1.1–2.3) |
||
| If antibiotics are administered immediately after a person has been infected, they would probably survive | ||||||||
| 880 |
69 |
0.5 (0.3–1.0) |
0.5 (0.3–1.0) |
0.7 (0.4–1.4) |
0.7 (0.4–1.3) |
0.7 (0.4–1.3) |
||
| If someone with plague has been in a room, how long would it take after they leave before it is safe to enter the room? | ||||||||
| <1 d | 372 | 0.6 (0.4–0.8) | 0.4 (0.2–0.7) | 0.4 (0.2–0.6) | 0.6 (0.4–0.8) | 0.6 (0.4–0.9) | ||
| 1–2 d | 226 | 1.0 (0.6–1.5) | 0.6 (0.4–1.0) | 0.5 (0.3–0.8) | 0.8 (0.5–1.2) | 1.0 (0.7–1.5) | ||
| >3 d | 237 | Reference | Reference | Reference | Reference | Reference | ||
*All odds ratios adjusted for home ownership, ethnicity, sex, age, working status, number of years of education, and social grade. Survey stage 2. Boldface indicates significance (p<0.05).
†Very or fairly likely to perform that behavior.
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