Infection Control Guidance: Respiratory Viruses

Well-fitting facemasks or respirators covering a person's mouth and nose can prevent the spread of germs when people are breathing, talking, sneezing or coughing. Project Firstline signs are available to help facilities, when desired, encourage masking.

When a facility doesn’t require masking, they should still allow individuals to use a mask or respirator if they choose.

General metrics and data sources are available to help facilities determine how and when to implement broader use of masking, including:

• The RESP-NET interactive dashboard or data from the National Emergency Department Visits for COVID-19, Influenza, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus.
• Outpatient respiratory illness visits determined by data reported to ILINet, which are aggregated to provide state-level estimates.
• Local health department data on respiratory virus activity for your jurisdiction.
• Visits/admissions for respiratory symptoms within your facility.
• Hospital admissions data on the CDC COVID data tracker.
• Long-term care data from the National Healthcare Safety Network LTCF COVID-19 Module, CDC COVID Data Tracker: Nursing Home Residents, and CMS COVID-19 Nursing Home Data.

Vaccines remain the best way to reduce your and your patients’ risk of getting sick and help stop the spread of viruses to others. If you or your patients do get flu or COVID-19, vaccines can make the illness shorter and less severe, reduce the amount of time spent away from work to recover and help avoid hospitalization.

Healthcare providers are the most trusted source of health information for patients. CDC has resources to help you talk with your patients about their risks for severe illness, so they can take the right steps to keep themselves and their families safe.

To learn more about the importance of vaccinating healthcare workers, check out CDC's Safe Healthcare Blog.

For more information on vaccine recommendations for respiratory viruses visit:

• ACIP Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Recommendations
• ACIP COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
• ACIP RSV Vaccine Recommendations

To limit the spread of germs, encourage physical distancing – particularly in shared spaces, such as waiting rooms. Consider:

• Posting signs reminding people to notify facility staff at check in if they have respiratory symptoms.
• Setting up triage stations that facilitate rapid screening of people for respiratory symptoms during times of higher community respiratory virus transmission.
• Separating people with respiratory symptoms from others as soon as possible, and request that they wear a mask to limit spread.

Remember to practice respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette and encourage others to do the same. Provide masks, tissues and no-touch receptacles for tissue disposal at facility entrances, triage areas and waiting rooms.

Hands are a main way germs spread in healthcare settings. Cleaning your hands regularly with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer or soap and water is a simple yet effective tool to stop the spread of germs.

Regular environmental cleaning is a necessity. Lobby areas, cafeterias and waiting rooms are all high-traffic spaces where germs can spread. It’s also important to disinfect reusable devices and not reuse disposable items. Review the infographic on How to Read a Disinfectant Label to help ensure you are using products correctly.

Make sure nothing is blocking air vents. Consult with your healthcare facilities management to ensure the heating, ventilation and air conditioning, or HVAC, system is working efficiently for good ventilation.