Parents Reportedly Don't Take the Flu Seriously Enough—and it Could Be Hurting Their Children

别把流感不当回事儿

Over the last decade, an average of 140,000 to 810,000 people have been hospitalized annually¹ due to complications from the flu—and a whopping 12,000 to 61,000 people per year lost their lives to the infectious disease. And yet, despite those staggering statistics, people of all ages are still not taking the flu seriously enough—and it's putting their health (and the health of their families) at risk.

过去十年，流感并发症平均每年导致14万至81万人住院，更甚者，每年约1.2万至6.1万人因传染病离世。尽管这一数据令人震惊，但不把流感当回事儿的大有人在——从而危及自身和家人的健康。

That information comes from a new national survey conducted by the American Academy of Family Physicians. The survey, published Thursday (right smack-dab in the middle of flu season) polled 1,000 nationally-representative US adults ages 25-73 to determine the impact flu myths and misconceptions have on vaccination² rates.

这一消息来源于美国家庭医师学会新开展的一项全国调查。该调查于周四发布（正处于流感季），受试对象是1000名25至73岁的具有典型美国特征的成年人，以确定流感误区和流感误解对流感疫苗接种率的影响。

According to the survey, parents often fall victim to these flu myths, which can then affect how they prioritize vaccinations³. A huge number of parents—nearly 3 out of 5, or 59%—said that their child has missed a flu shot at least once, due to misinformation or a misunderstanding (21% said they didn't want their child to get sick, 13% said their child doesn't need the flu shot, and 10% said they don't think the flu is that serious).

调查显示，家长经常听信这些流感误区，从而影响他们对疫苗接种的态度。许多父母表示——近五分之三或59%——由于误解，他们至少曾有一次未给孩子打流感预防针（21%的人表示他们不希望宝宝因此生病，13%的家长表示他们的孩子不需要打流感预防针，还有10%的父母认为流感并没有那么严重）。

Men, it seems, also greatly underestimate the dangers associated with the flu: Per the survey, 73% vastly underestimated the number of flu-related deaths last year (FYI: The CDC says there were 34,200 flu-related deaths during the 2018-2019 season.) Men are also reportedly more likely skip a flu shot themselves—along with one for their child—because they don't believe the flu is that serious.

男性似乎也大大低估了流感的潜在危险：调查表明，73%的男性大大低估了与流感相关的死亡人数（仅供参考：疾控中心表示，2018至2019年间，与流感相关的死亡人数达34200人）。报告称，男性自身不注射流感疫苗的可能性也更大——不给孩子注射的可能性也较高——因为他们认为流感只是小事儿。

Beth Oller, MD, a family physician in Kansas, believes that the false medical information flying around—including myths like "you can get the flu from the flu shot"—are due largely to the fact that patients aren't talking to their doctors. "It's causing a major gap in knowledge," she tells Health.

堪萨斯州的家庭医生贝丝·奥勒（Beth Oller）医学博士认为，虚假医疗信息的四处流传——诸如“注射流感疫苗或感染流感”等误区——在很大程度上是因为患者没有咨询医生所致。她对《健康》杂志说道：“这造成了知识上的重大缺口。”

But there's another factor in the misinformation out there: anti-vaccination movements. Certain groups—including millennials and African Americans—appear to be most susceptible⁴ to anti-vaccination rhetoric⁵.

另一因素也导致了人们对流感的误解：反疫苗运动。某些群体，包括千禧一代和非裔美国人，似乎最易接受反疫苗言论。