Americans not panicking about swine flu/h6>

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 8th, 2009: Despite the attention that swine flu has been getting in the news, most Americans are not too concerned about becoming infected with the disease. A May 3-5, 2009 poll conducted by YouGov PollingPoint and The Economist found that 19% of respondents are not at all worried about the risk of contracting swine flu. Though 81% are registering concern about their personal health, only 10% characterize themselves as very concerned.

Attitudes are mixed on whether the volume of media coverage on the topic of swine flu has been appropriate. Half of respondents say the news media have focused too much on swine flu. 40% say the amount of coverage has been about right. Virtually no one believes that the media have paid too little attention to the outbreak.

Presidential Approval Tracker

President Obama received a 57% approval rating in the most recent YouGov PollingPoint tracking poll. This approval rating falls between a high of 63% right after the President’s Inauguration and a low of 53% in mid-February.

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Methodology:

These results are from a weekly YouGov PollingPoint public opinion tracking poll conducted for publication in The Economist. The poll surveyed 1,000 respondents and was fielded from May 3, 2009 to May 5, 2009. Results from interviews conducted online by members of the PollingPoint panel are representative of the U.S. adult population. The margin of error for this poll is +/- 4.8%.