Guidance

Core Prevention Strategies

CDC recommends that all people use core prevention strategies. These are important steps you can take to protect yourself and others:

Stay up to date with immunizations
Practice good hygiene (practices that improve cleanliness)
Take steps for cleaner air
When you may have a respiratory virus:
- Use precautions to prevent spread
- Seek health care promptly for testing and/or treatment if you have risk factors for severe illness; treatment may help lower your risk of severe illness

Guidance for When You Are Sick

When you may have a respiratory virus stay home and away from others (including people you live with who are not sick) if you have respiratory virus symptoms that aren't better explained by another cause. These symptoms can include fever, chills, fatigue, cough, runny nose, and headache, among others.*

You can go back to your normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, both are true:

Your symptoms are getting better overall, and
You have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication).

When you go back to your normal activities, take added precaution over the next 5 days, such as taking additional steps for cleaner air, hygiene, masks, physical distancing, and/or testing when you will be around other people indoors.

Keep in mind that you may still be able to spread the virus that made you sick, even if you are feeling better. You are likely to be less contagious at this time, depending on factors like how long you were sick or how sick you were.
If you develop a fever or you start to feel worse after you have gone back to normal activities, stay home and away from others again until, for at least 24 hours, both are true: your symptoms are improving overall, and you have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication). Then take added precaution for the next 5 days.

Additional Prevention Strategies

Additional prevention strategies you can choose to further protect yourself and others include the following:

How to decide what prevention strategies to use

All the prevention strategies on this page can reduce risk and are especially helpful when following are true:

Respiratory viruses are causing a lot of illness in your community.
You or the people around you were recently exposed to a respiratory virus, are sick, or are recovering.
You or the people around you have risk factors for severe illness.
- Many factors can make it more likely for someone to become very sick from a respiratory virus. In addition to this guidance, there are several specific considerations for people with certain risk factors for severe illness (young children, older adults, people with weakened immune systems, people who are pregnant, and people with disabilities).

You may not be aware of the things that can make others more vulnerable to serious illness. Using the core prevention strategies will provide a degree of protection regardless. If you are unsure about the health condition or risk status of those around you, the most protective option is choosing to use additional prevention strategies, like masking, physical distancing, and testing.

When to seek emergency medical attention

If someone is showing any of these emergency warning signs,* seek emergency medical care immediately.

Trouble breathing
Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
New confusion
Inability to wake up or stay awake
Pale, gray, or blue-colored skin, lips, or nail beds, depending on skin tone

*This list does not include all possible symptoms. Please call your medical provider for any other symptoms that are severe or concerning to you.