Respiratory infectious diseases: Reduce your risk
On this page
- Get your recommended vaccines
- Use personal protective measures
- How respiratory infectious diseases spread
- Who is at risk
- What to do if you get sick
Get your recommended vaccines
Find a location for vaccination in your province or territory:
Many respiratory infectious diseases, like the flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), usually increase in the fall and winter months. COVID-19 may circulate any time of year.
Vaccination is one of the best ways to protect your family, your community and yourself from:
- becoming infected with a respiratory infectious disease
- developing serious complications
Vaccines can help prevent the spread of disease, which helps protect people who can't get vaccinated, like:
- very young infants
- some people who are immunocompromised
Vaccination schedules and availability can vary depending on which province or territory you live in. Talk to a health care provider or your local public health unit or office for more information about vaccines that protect against respiratory infectious diseases.
Learn more:
- Preventing RSV: Vaccination
- Vaccines for COVID-19: Get vaccinated
- Get your flu vaccine: Why it's important
- Seasonal flu and the flu shot for Indigenous communities
Use personal protective measures
Personal protective measures are:
- actions you can take to reduce your risk of getting or spreading respiratory infectious diseases
- especially important to help protect people who are at greater risk of severe complications from respiratory infections
- most effective when combined and used alongside vaccination
These measures help break the chain of infection to protect our communities from respiratory infectious diseases.
Learn more:
- Respiratory infectious diseases: Who is at risk
- Respiratory infectious diseases: Break the chain of infection (infographic)
Stay home when you're sick
Staying at home and limiting contact with others when you're sick is one of the best ways to prevent spreading illness in your community.
If you have to be in a shared space with others, use a combination of personal protective measures. This will help reduce the risk of spreading illness.
Most people who become sick with a respiratory infectious disease can experience symptoms, such as:
- fever
- runny or stuffy nose
- cough
- sneezing
- fatigue
- muscle or body aches
Mild to moderate symptoms of some viral respiratory illnesses can be treated with:
- rest
- fluids
- over-the-counter medications for pain, fever or other symptoms
Bacterial respiratory infections may require treatment with appropriate antibiotics prescribed by a health care provider.
If you're worried about your symptoms or are at risk for more serious complications, consult your health care provider for tailored advice.
Before an in-person appointment, tell the health care provider about your symptoms and follow their advice. Consider wearing a well-fitting respirator or mask when you seek care, if you're able to.
If you're feeling very unwell, seek urgent medical attention or call 9-1-1.
Learn more:
- Using medications safely
- Acetaminophen and children
- RSV: Symptoms and treatment
- COVID-19: Symptoms and treatment
- Flu (seasonal influenza): Symptoms and treatment
- Medication and children younger than 6 years of age
- COVID-19: What to do if you or someone in your home is sick
Wear a well-fitting respirator or mask
Respirators and masks act as a barrier and can filter out respiratory particles. This can help:
- protect you from getting infected or sick by reducing the amount of infectious respiratory particles you breathe in
- prevent you from spreading infection to others by containing infectious respiratory particles you produce when you're sick, even if you don't have symptoms
Respirators and masks are most effective when:
- they fit well
- they're well constructed
- you wear them properly
You should choose the best quality and best fitting respirator or mask available to you.
Learn more:
Improve indoor ventilation
Good ventilation exchanges indoor air for outdoor air. This helps reduce the buildup of infectious respiratory particles in indoor air. Although ventilation of certain spaces isn't always in your control, there are many ways you can improve indoor ventilation in your home.
Open windows or doors regularly, even for a few minutes at a time. This creates a cross-breeze and improves ventilation.
Ensure your central heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system has clean, well-maintained air filters to help reduce the levels of infectious respiratory particles indoors. Contact your ventilation system professional for advice on regular maintenance of your system.
Run kitchen or bathroom exhaust fans that vent to the outside at low speed to help remove contaminated air.
Use a portable air purifier with a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter to remove infectious particles, smoke, dust and pollen from the air.
When possible, gather outdoors to help reduce the risk of transmission of respiratory infectious diseases. Fresh, clean outdoor air allows infectious particles to disperse and not build up. Outdoor settings also give people more space to spread out.
Learn more:
- Protecting your indoor air (infographic)
- COVID-19: Improving indoor ventilation
- Maintain and improve indoor air quality (infographic)
- Using a portable air cleaner to improve indoor air (infographic)
- Ventilation helps protect against the spread of COVID-19 (infographic)
Clean your hands regularly
Cleaning your hands means:
- washing your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (preferred method if hands are visibly soiled) or
- using a hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol for 20 seconds or until dry
This removes or kills the germs on your hands.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth with unclean hands to prevent germs from entering your body.
Clean your hands to help reduce the spread of infectious diseases
Learn more:
- Reduce the spread of infectious diseases: How to properly wash your hands (video)
- Reduce the spread of infectious diseases: How to properly wash your hands (infographic)
Cover your coughs and sneezes
You can help reduce the spread of respiratory particles when you cough or sneeze by following these steps.
- Cough or sneeze into a tissue or your elbow, not your hand.
- Throw any used tissues into a lined waste container as soon as possible.
- Clean your hands immediately afterwards.
Clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces and objects
Cleaning and disinfecting high-touch surfaces and objects regularly can help reduce the risk of respiratory infectious diseases spreading through contact with a contaminated surface or object.
Cleaning and disinfecting to reduce the spread of respiratory infectious diseases
How respiratory infectious diseases spread
Respiratory infectious diseases can spread in different ways, including from:
- person to person
- contact with contaminated surfaces or objects
Many respiratory infectious diseases spread through a combination of both, so it's best to use more than one personal protective measure at a time.
Person-to-person spread
When someone is infected, they can produce respiratory particles and secretions, like saliva and mucus, that can pass on the infection.
Respiratory particles are released in a range of sizes into the air. This can happen when the person:
- breathes
- talks
- coughs
- sneezes
- sings
- shouts
You may become infected with a respiratory infectious disease if:
- you breathe infectious particles in
- infectious particles or secretions come into direct contact with your eyes, nose or mouth
- for example, if someone who is infected coughs or sneezes on you
- you touch someone who has infectious particles or secretions on them, then touch your eyes, nose or mouth before you clean your hands
- for example, when shaking someone's hand
Respiratory infectious diseases may be more likely to spread in crowded indoor settings and when people are close to each other.
Spread through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects
Surfaces and objects may become contaminated with infectious particles or secretions. This can happen when a person who is infected touches, coughs or sneezes on them. High-touch surfaces and objects are more likely to be contaminated, including:
- phones
- door handles
- light switches
- elevator buttons
You can become infected if you touch a contaminated surface or object, and then touch your eyes, nose or mouth before you clean your hands.
Who is at risk
Some people are at greater risk of developing serious complications from respiratory infectious diseases than others. Depending on the respiratory illness, these risk groups may change. In general, people at greater risk include:
- older adults, especially over 65 years of age
- people with chronic medical conditions (such as heart, lung, kidney, liver or other conditions)
- infants, especially those who are premature or under 6 months of age
- people who are immunocompromised
- young children, especially those who are under 5 years of age
- people who are pregnant
If you're at greater risk, consider taking the following protective measures in addition to staying up to date with your recommended vaccines.
- Use a combination of personal protective measures when the risk of being exposed to a respiratory illness is higher.
- For example, in closed and crowded spaces during periods when respiratory illnesses spread more.
- Avoid contact or being in a shared space with someone who is sick with a respiratory illness.
- Inform those you live with that you're at higher risk so that they can also take measures to lower their risk of:
- getting sick
- bringing illness into the home
Talk to a health care provider for personalized advice on how to best protect yourself from respiratory infectious diseases.
Learn more:
What to do if you get sick
When you're sick, it's important to stay home and use personal protective measures to help reduce the risk of spreading illness to others. Refer to our advice for when you're sick and at home.