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Public Health

Respiratory Illness Resources

What to know
Prevention
If you get sick
Before you get sick

Respiratory Illness Resources

Respiratory illnesses — COVID-19, flu and RSV — can spread year-round, but are most common in the fall and winter months. 

All three are serious for pregnant people, older adults and immunocompromised people of all ages. Flu and RSV can be serious in babies and young children. Most people will recover on their own, but severe cases can overwhelm our hospitals. 

If you are a long-term care facility reporting illness or an outbreak in your facility or you have infection control questions, call the infectious disease control and prevention 24 hour reporting line at 503-655-8411.

Pertussis (whooping cough) and measles are also respiratory illnesses. 

Learn more about whooping cough
Learn more about measles

Vaccines for Respiratory Illnesses

Vaccines and immunizations help your body defend itself from viruses and severe illness

It is important to stay up to date with the vaccines that are recommended for you. For most people, that means getting a current flu and COVID-19 vaccine. Infants and older adults should also be protected against RSV.

How to get vaccinated

  • Most health insurance plans cover vaccines for respiratory illness without charging a copayment or coinsurance, even if you have not met a yearly deductible.
  • The best place to get any vaccine is with your regular healthcare provider.
  • You can check with your local pharmacy to see if they offer the vaccines you are looking for. In Oregon, pharmacists can immunize people aged 7 years or older. To find a pharmacy, visit vaccines.gov.
  • Students attending school in a Clackamas County school district are eligible to be seen at a School Based Health Center (SBHC) within their district at no cost. For locations and contact information, please visit our School Based Health Centers page.
  • Clackamas Free Clinic in Oregon City offers free COVID-19 and flu vaccines to uninsured adults age 18+. Supply may be limited. To request an appointment, please call 503-722-4400.
  • Need transportation to a vaccine appointment?
    • If you have OHP through CareOregon/Health Share of Oregon: contact Ride to Care. Toll-free: 855-321-4899 | Online: ridetocare.com
    • If you have OHP through Trillium: contact Medical Transportation Management (MTM) at 1-877-583-1552.
    • If you are 65+ or have a disability: contact Transportation Reaching People. Phone: 503-655-8208 | Email: trpclackamas@clackamas.us
       

If you have questions about whether a certain vaccine is right for you, talk to your doctor.

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It is important to stay up to date with the COVID-19 vaccine because protection from the vaccine wanes over time and the vaccines are updated to give you the best protection from currently circulating strains. The 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccines were recently approved and authorized by the FDA and are beginning to be available.

Why get immunized against COVID-19

  • COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States are safe and effective at protecting people from getting seriously ill, being hospitalized and dying.
  • Getting a COVID-19 vaccine is a safer, more reliable way to build protection than getting sick with COVID-19.
  • COVID-19 vaccines can offer added protection to people who had COVID-19, including protection against being hospitalized from a new infection.
  • While COVID-19 vaccines were developed rapidly, all steps were taken to ensure their safety and effectiveness, including vaccine development, clinical trials, FDA authorization or approval and development and approval of vaccine recommendations through the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and CDC. Learn more about how COVID-19 vaccines work and how they were developed here.

Who should get immunized against COVID-19

  • Everyone ages 6 months and older should get a 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine.
  • It is especially important to get your 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine if you are ages 65 and older, are at high risk for severe COVID-19, or have never received a COVID-19 vaccine.
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Influenza (flu) vaccines (often called “flu shots”) are vaccines that protect against the three influenza viruses that research indicates will be most common during the upcoming season. A yearly flu vaccine is the first and most important action in reducing your risk of flu and its potentially serious outcomes. September and October are generally good times to be vaccinated against influenza.

Why get immunized against the flu

  • Flu vaccination can keep you from getting sick with flu.
  • lu vaccination has been shown in several studies to reduce severity of illness in people who get vaccinated but still get sick. It can reduce the risk of flu-associated hospitalization.
  • Flu vaccination is an important preventive tool for people with certain chronic health conditions.
  • Flu vaccination during pregnancy helps protect pregnant people from flu during and after pregnancy and helps protect their infants from flu in their first few months of life​. Flu vaccine can be lifesaving in children.
  • Getting vaccinated yourself may also protect people around you, including those who are more vulnerable to serious flu illness, like babies and young children, older people, and people with certain chronic health conditions.
  • While a flu vaccine can cause side effects that are usually mild and short-lasting, it cannot give you flu illness.

Who should get immunized against the flu

  • Everyone ages 6 months and older should get a yearly flu vaccine.
  • Vaccination is particularly important for people who are at higher risk of serious complications from influenza. This includes people 65 years and older, people of any age with certain chronic medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease), pregnant people and children younger than 5 years, but especially those younger than 2 years old.
  • Beginning with the 2023-2024 season, additional safety measures are no longer recommended for flu vaccination of people who are allergic to eggs. People with egg allergy may receive any vaccine (egg-based or non-egg-based) that is otherwise appropriate for their age and health status. Learn more about flu vaccine and egg allergy here.
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People are typically infected with RSV for the first time as an infant or toddler and nearly all children are infected before their second birthday. However, repeat infections may occur throughout life, and people of any age can be infected. Infants, young children, and older adults are at increased risk of severe RSV.

Why get immunized against RSV

  • RSV is the leading cause of infant hospitalization in the U.S.
  • Each year, it is estimated that between 60,000-160,000 older adults in the United States are hospitalized and 6,000-10,000 die due to RSV infection.

Who should get immunized against RSV

Older adults: CDC recommends 1 dose of RSV vaccine for all adults ages 75 years and older, and for adults ages 60–74 years who are at increased risk of severe RSV due to:

  • Chronic heart or lung disease
  • A weakened immune system
  • Certain other medical conditions, including severe obesity and severe diabetes
  • Living in a nursing home or other long-term care facility

RSV vaccine is not currently an annual vaccine, meaning older adults do not need to get a dose every RSV season. If you have already gotten an RSV vaccine, you do not need to get another one at this time.

Pregnant people: People who are 32 through 36 weeks pregnant during September through January should get one dose of maternal RSV vaccine to protect their babies. This allows antibodies to pass from you to your baby, and protects baby for around 6 months, when they are at the highest risk of severe RSV disease. Pregnant people should only receive the Pfizer Abrysvo RSV vaccine.

Infants and young children: Infants younger than 8 months of age born during RSV season or entering their first RSV season should receive the protective antibody product nirsevimab (Beyfortus). However, most infants do not need nirsevimab if they were born 14+ days after their mother got an RSV vaccine.

Some infants and young children 8 through 19 months of age who are at increased risk for severe RSV disease should receive nirsevimab shortly before the start of their second RSV season:

  • Children who were born prematurely and have chronic lung disease
  • Children with severe immunocompromise
  • Children with cystic fibrosis who have severe disease
  • American Indian and Alaska Native children
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Prevention

Prevent illness every day

  • Stay home when you’re sick. Avoid being around sick people.
  • Watch for symptoms, especially if you have been around someone who is sick.
  • Wash hands often.
  • Clean and disinfect high-touch items (doorknobs, phones, TV remotes)
  • Get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms.
  • Get a flu shot every year, and COVID-19 shots and boosters.

During respiratory illness season

Help keep kids in school, avoid missing work or gatherings, and keep our hospitals running smoothly when illness is spreading:

  • Delay visits with people who are at higher risk for severe disease, or consider adding layers of protection such as masks and physical distance when you are around them.
  • Hold smaller, outdoor gatherings.
  • Open windows and doors for improved ventilation.

If you are at higher risk for severe illness

Stay in touch with your provider. If you don’t have a provider, call 211 for help finding one. Your provider may recommend that you wear a mask or take other precautions. If you get sick, they can help you decide if you need to get tested or get treatment. 

If you get sick

Most people recover from respiratory illnesses on their own. Stay home and do the things you usually do to feel better: sleep, rest, drink plenty of fluids. 

Learn more about signs and symptoms of flu, COVID-19 and RSV.

If you are sick, but must be around others

  • Consider wearing a mask that fits well over your nose and mouth.
  • Wash your hands often, especially after blowing your nose.
  • Cover your cough with a tissue or your sleeve.
  • Keep some distance from others if you can.
  • Improve room ventilation around others, for example by opening a window.

When can you be around others?

You can return to work, school, and other activities when you:

  • You have been without a fever for at least 24 hours without use of fever-reducing medications, and
  • Symptoms are better, and
  • You can eat and drink okay, and
  • Your runny nose and cough are mild enough that you can participate in activities and keep your hands clean.

When you go back to your normal activities, take added precautions over the next five days, such as masking, opening windows, meeting outdoors and/or social distancing when you will be around other people, and continuing to practice good hygiene.

Things to do before you get sick