PHILADELPHIA – Over a third of American adults are worried that they or someone in their family will get the seasonal flu, Covid-19, or RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) in the next three months, according to a new health survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania.
Those three viral illnesses made up the "tripledemic" of respiratory illnesses that overwhelmed some health care facilities last winter. Although RSV typically peaks later in the year, this month hospitals in parts of Texas are already seeing emergency rooms filled with children with RSV.
RSV is a common respiratory virus that often causes mild, cold-like symptoms but can be serious and require hospitalization among infants and older adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
There's no consensus among U.S. adults on which virus is more likely to cause severe illness: 22% say Covid-19, 13% say RSV, 7% say seasonal flu, and 41% say they are equally likely to cause severe illness. Sixteen percent are not sure.
The Annenberg Science and Public Health Knowledge (ASAPH) survey, which was conducted October 5-12, 2023, with a panel of over 1,500 U.S. adults, finds that Americans generally are more knowledgeable about RSV today than earlier this year. Over the spring and summer, health authorities approved new vaccines against RSV specifically for adults age 60 and older and for pregnant people as a way to protect their newborns.
Highlights
- RSV concern: 35% worry that they or someone in their family will get RSV in the next three months, up from 32% in January 2023. About two-thirds (65%) are not worried.
- Covid-19 concern: 35% are worried that they or someone in their family will get Covid-19 in the next three months, up from 21% in August 2023 but similar to last winter (36% in January 2023). About two-thirds (65%) are not worried.
- Flu concern: 39% are worried that they or someone in their family will contract the seasonal flu in the next three months, statistically unchanged from January 2023. Six in 10 people (61%) are not worried.
- Complications: Nearly 1 in 3 people (31%) say they personally know someone who believes they are suffering long-term health complications as a result of getting infected with Covid-19. One in 6 (17%) say they personally know someone who believes they are suffering long-term health complications as a result of getting infected with Covid-19.
- Fewer say they've had a flu shot: At the time the survey was fielded (Oct. 5-12, 2023), 21% said they had received the flu shot this season, compared with 26% in mid-October 2022 and 38% in the second week of November 2021.
"Because getting a flu shot yearly not only helps to protect us from serious infection but also predicts our acceptance of other CDC-recommended vaccines, the drop in reported flu vaccination we see reflected in our panel is worrisome," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and director of the survey.
APPC's Annenberg Science and Public Health Knowledge survey
The survey data come from the 13th wave of a nationally representative panel of 1,559 U.S. adults, first empaneled in April 2021, conducted for the Annenberg Public Policy Center by SSRS, an independent market research company. This wave of the Annenberg Science and Public Health Knowledge (ASAPH) survey was fielded October 5-12, 2023, and has a margin of sampling error (MOE) of ± 3.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All figures are rounded to the nearest whole number and may not add to 100%. Combined subcategories may not add to totals in the topline and text due to rounding.
The policy center has been tracking the American public's knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors regarding vaccination, Covid-19, flu, RSV, and other consequential health issues through this survey panel over the past two-and-a-half years. In addition to Jamieson, APPC's team on the survey includes research analyst Shawn Patterson Jr.; Patrick E. Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Health and Risk Communication Institute, and Ken Winneg, managing director of survey research.
A prior news release on this survey showed how public confidence in vaccines has declined and more people are accepting of misinformation about vaccines over the past couple of years.
Download the topline and the methods report.
RSV and vaccines
Knowledge about RSV is generally up, though not enthusiasm for the vaccine.
Two vaccines against RSV for adults 60 and older were approved in May by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and in June, the CDC recommended that such older adults "may receive a single dose of RSV vaccine" upon consultation with their health care provider.
In August, the FDA approved, and the CDC later recommended, an RSV vaccine for pregnant individuals to be given during weeks 32 to 36 of pregnancy to protect babies born during RSV season. (During the summer, the FDA and CDC also signed off on a monoclonal antibody injection – which is not a vaccine – to be administered to newborns to protect against RSV.)
The survey on RSV and the vaccines found a mixed reception for the RSV preventives:
- The vaccine for older adults: Over half of those surveyed (55%) say they would be likely to recommend that a friend or family member age 60 or older talk with their health care provider about whether to get the RSV vaccine, a statistically significant decline from 61% in August 2023.
- The vaccine during pregnancy: People are split on whether to recommend the RSV vaccine to a pregnant friend or family member. Told that the CDC recommended this new vaccine against RSV for pregnant individuals to protect their infants: 45% would not recommend it and 43% would. (The question was not previously asked in this form.)
- The monoclonal antibody injection for infants: 42% say they would be likely to recommend the monoclonal antibody injection for an infant and 35% would not, no significant change since August.
What do people know about RSV?
Knowledge about RSV and the vaccines has grown slightly since summer on some survey items. On most of these questions, more people are unsure than knowledgeable:
- Does an RSV vaccine for older adults exist? More people know there is an FDA-approved vaccine against RSV for older adults (42%, up from 23% in August and 13% in June), though over half of those surveyed (53%) are not sure.
- RSV symptoms: There's been growth in the number of people who know that RSV is more likely to produce mild, cold-like symptoms (23%, up from 18% in June 2023) than serious difficulties in breathing – but even more incorrectly choose the latter (38%) and another 38% are not sure.
- The virus's staying power: More know that RSV can survive for many hours on hard surfaces such as tables or crib rails (26%, up from 17% in June 2023) than those who say it cannot (7%) – but two-thirds of those surveyed (67%) are not sure.
- Repeat illness: More know that once a person contracts RSV it's possible to get it again (48%, up from 38% in June 2023), though half (50%) are unsure.
- Pre-symptomatic spread: Nearly half (46%, unchanged from August 2023) know it is possible to spread RSV before showing symptoms, though half (51%) are unsure.
- When RSV season occurs: Nearly two-thirds (63%, up from 43% in June) know that fall and winter are the times of year when someone is most likely to contract RSV, though 21% are not sure.
- RSV's prevalence among infants: Almost no one knows how common RSV is among infants. Asked how many children get RSV before the age of two: 14% say few, 31% say some, 10% say most, 4% (correctly) say virtually all and 42% are not sure. According to the CDC, nearly all children are infected before their second birthday.
