Respiratory Infection Guide

Updated: 05/10/2024 1:30 PM

What to do when you are sick? Is it a cold, flu, or COVID-19?

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.*

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.

  • 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.

Seek immediate medical care or call 911 if you develop:
• Difficulty breathing
• Bluish, gray, or whitish lips or face
• Constant pain or pressure in the chest
• Severe, constant dizziness or lightheadedness
• Mental confusion
• Difficulty waking up
• Slurred speech (new or worsening)
• Other symptoms that are concerning.

Kate Pascucci