Since the “Swine Flu” outbreak started in Mexico, the world has been paying close attention to how the crisis develops. Last week we conducted a survey among 5,700 people from 8 different countries in Latin America (Argentina, Brasil, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela)  find out how the swine flu outbreak was impacting people’s lives, the level of information available, and people´s understanding of the disease.

Some of the results were to be expected, but most were surprising.

For example, despite the higher infection rate in Mexico, only 21% of Mexicans felt threatened by the disease in comparison to 35% of Colombians, 30% of Peruvians and 23% of Argentines. This may be related to how the local press is covering the story or to the fact that Mexicans are actually seeing how the threat is not that significant.

In Mexico, 23% of the people we asked knew someone who suspected they had swine flu while 7% of those interviewed knew someone who had been diagnosed with the disease.

One of the most controversial issues surrounding the outbreak is that of limiting travel from and to Mexico. The issue is particularly touchy since it has sparked passionate discussions that border with racism and discrimination towards Mexicans. The results show that the majority of people in the region feel that travel limitations are required:

These are a few other interesting results:

• 87% of those surveyed said that if diagnosed they would go straight to a hospital or doctor whereas the CDC and other health organizations recommend people to stay home and get in touch with the respective health service to avoid contact with other people.
• Only 50% of the people interviewed in Mexico are taking precautions against the disease. In fact more people in some of the other countries seem to be taking precautions than in Mexico:

• 72% of people in Mexico said they are using masks and the majority of people in the other countries said to be washing hands more often and avoiding crowded spaces.
• Over 64% of people in Mexico think that the outbreak will affect their economy.

Hope you find these useful.

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