A third of Americans think that antibiotics can cure the flu, and a third also think that flu shots can give you the flu
Last week researchers announced the discovery of a new antibiotic, the first such discovery in about three decades. The new antibiotic will be a powerful new medical tool, as overuse of antibiotics in prior years created resistant bacterial strains that are increasingly invulnerable to standard antibiotics. Doctors have known for a long time that overprescribing antibiotics is a problem, but many still hand out antibiotics for viral infections.
YouGov's latest research shows a great deal of confusion regarding what antibiotics can or cannot do. The vast majority of Americans know that antibiotics are useful when you're dealing with bacterial infections (84%) and pneumonia (70%), and that they're not much use against aches and pains (73%) or common colds (66%). Americans are, however, more confused as to whether or not antibiotics can help with the flu and other viral infections. 41% say that viral infections can be cured with antibiotics, while 35% think that antibiotics can cure the flu, neither of which is true.
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Younger Americans are the most likely to be misinformed about whether or not antibiotics are useful in fighting the flu. 48% of under-30s say that the flu can be cured with antibiotics, while 40% know that it cannot. A majority of all Americans over the age of 30 know that antibiotics cannot cure the flu. Overall, however, 35% of the American public believe that antibiotics can cure the flu.
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One of the persistent myths about flu shots is that, if you get one, you run the risk of actually getting the flu from the vaccination. 44% of Americans know that this isn't true, but 38% think that it is. People who think that you can catch the flu from a flu shot are much less likely to have got a flu shot this year. Only 21% of people who think you can catch the flu from a shot got one this flu season, while 61% of people who know you cannot catch it got a shot.
Full poll results can be found here.