Almost 40% of US Households Say They Were Sick With COVID-19, Flu, or RSV Recently - Poll

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th February, 2023) About 40% of Americans say their families experienced either COVID-19, the flu, or RSV over the past month and the holiday season, a poll by the non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation showed on Tuesday.

"Nearly four in ten (38%) people say their households were affected by this winter's triple threat of viruses, with someone getting sick with the flu, COVID-19, or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)," the survey said.

Almost half, or 46%, admitted that the news of the three viruses spreading has made them more likely to wear masks or take other precautions to avoid getting sick.

However, over two thirds (69%) noted they are "not too" or "not at all" worried about getting seriously ill from the coronavirus. Another 31% are still worried.

"That's somewhat more than say the same about the flu (26%) or RSV (25%)," the pollster said.

The flu affected the largest share of households over the past month or so (27%), with smaller shares saying someone in their homes had COVID-19 (15%) or RSV (10%).

"News about the three viruses also made some people more likely to take preventive measures such as wearing a mask in public (31%), avoiding large gatherings (26%), traveling less (20%), or avoiding eating indoors at restaurants (18%)," the poll noted.

Almost one third of Americans (28%) said they got an updated COVID-19 bivalent vaccine booster shot, up slightly from December (22%), according to the survey. Most of them are ready to receive a booster shot in the future.

"On the other side, vaccinated adults who have not gotten the bivalent booster yet cite a number of reasons for why they haven't done so.� Half (51%) say they feel they have enough protection from their initial vaccination or a prior infection, and nearly as many (44%) say they don't think they need the new booster," the survey said.

The poll was conducted from January 17-24 online and by telephone among a nationally representative sample of 1,234 adults in the United States.