Respiratory illnesses like the common cold​ affect your respiratory, or breathing, system. Viruses like the flu, COVID-19, and RSV cause illness, hospitalizations, and deaths each year.  

Reduce your risk of respiratory illness and protect your family with simple prevention steps. If you are at higher risk of severe illness or you are around someone who is at high risk, you can take extra steps to prevent the spread of illness. People at higher risk include babies, young children, older adults, and people with other health conditions.

To protect yourself and others:

• Stay up to date with immunizations.
  
• Wash your hands and clean surfaces often.
  
• Make your air cleaner by bringing in outside air or filtering indoor air.
  
• When you​ have a respiratory virus:
• Take steps to prevent spread
• ​If you are at risk for severe illness, talk to a healthcare provider about treatments that can lower your risk.
  

Extra steps you can take to protect yourself and others:

• Masks
• Physical distancing

• Tests ​- find COVID test information on our COVID page​
  
  

For more information on respiratory illness vaccines, visit our Flu, COVID, and RSV vaccines page​. Learn more about CO​VID-19 and R​​SV​​.

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Flu          

A flu vaccine can take the flu from wild to mild!

Avian Flu (bird flu)

​Bird flu is widespread in wild birds around the world. It is causing outbreaks in poultry, including in Maryland, and U.S. dairy cows. There have been several cases of bird flu in U.S. dairy workers.

     

​Updated 9/10/2024​