A recent joint survey by WebMD and Medscape compared views on Ebola protective measures from healthcare professionals and consumers.
The survey gathered responses from nearly 1,100 healthcare professionals and nearly 1,300 consumers. Both healthcare professionals and consumers indicated widespread support of protective measures.
For example, 84 percent of consumers and 89 percent of healthcare professionals are in favor of screening passengers arriving from Ebola-affected areas. Additionally, 69 percent of consumers and 52 percent of healthcare professionals said it is "reasonable" to stop flights from Ebola-affected areas to the United States until the outbreaks are under control. Fifty-seven percent of consumers and 56 percent of healthcare professionals support quarantining visitors from Ebola-affected countries until it is determined they do not have the disease.
In terms of the dangers of the disease, clinicians view Ebola as less of a public threat than consumers; 38 percent of consumers said Ebola was a high threat to public health compared to 17 percent of clinicians. In contrast, 37 percent of consumers said influenza was a high threat, where 69 percent of clinicians did.
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