Respiratory infectious diseases: How to reduce the spread with personal protective measures

Why personal protective measures are important

Personal protective measures are actions you can take to reduce your risk of getting or spreading respiratory infectious diseases, such as:

• the flu
• COVID-19
• respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)

These actions are also known as public health measures that can be used by individuals.

Personal protective measures work by breaking the chain of infection. This means stopping viruses and bacteria from spreading to an uninfected person through:

• contaminated objects
• a person who is infected

These measures have always been an important part of preventing illness. They will continue to be important to help prevent the spread of respiratory infectious diseases and can be used beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learn more about:

• Respiratory infectious diseases: Break the chain of infection (infographic)

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

A person who is infected releases infectious respiratory particles in a range of sizes into the air. This can happen when they:

• breathe
• talk
• cough
• sneeze
• sing
• shout

A person who is infected may also have infectious respiratory secretions, like saliva or mucus.

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
    • kisses or shares food or drinks with 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

Spread through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects

Surfaces and objects may become contaminated with infectious particles or secretions after being touched, or coughed or sneezed on by a person who is infected. 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 a greater risk of serious complications from respiratory infectious diseases than others, including:

• people who are pregnant
• people who aren’t vaccinated
• people living with lung disease
• older persons, especially over 65 years of age
• young children, especially those who are under 5 years of age
• infants, especially those who are premature or under 6 months of age
• people with chronic medical conditions, including those who are immunocompromised

Depending on the disease, there may be other groups who are at greater risk of serious complications from respiratory infections.

Learn more about:

• Risks of getting RSV
• Flu: Who is most at risk
• People who are at risk of more severe disease or outcomes from COVID-19
• COVID-19 and Indigenous communities

Why getting vaccinated is important

Vaccination is one of the most important ways to protect you and your loved ones from becoming infected or developing serious complications. Vaccines can help prevent the spread of disease, which helps protect people who can’t get vaccinated, like:

• very young infants
• people who are immunocompromised

Some vaccines offer life-long protection, while others require annual vaccination or booster doses to continue providing protection throughout your life.

Vaccination schedules can vary, depending on which province or territory you live in. Talk to a health care provider or your local public health unit for more information about vaccines.

Learn more about:

• Get your flu shot
• Vaccines and immunization
• Vaccination scheduling tool
• COVID-19: Book a vaccination appointment
• Seasonal flu and the flu shot for Indigenous communities

What personal protective measures to use

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. This helps protect people who are at greater risk of severe complications from respiratory infections.

If you share spaces with others, even while at home, you can reduce the risk of spreading respiratory illnesses by combining different personal protective measures.

Staying home when sick is important, but you should still seek medical attention if you need it. Tell your health care provider about your symptoms ahead of time and wear a mask when you seek care if you’re able to.

Learn more about:

• COVID-19: What to do if you or someone in your home is sick
• Respiratory infectious diseases: What to do if you become sick

Wear a well-fitting respirator or mask

Masks are an effective measure that help provide protection against respiratory infectious diseases.

Respirators and masks are most effective when:

• they fit well
• they’re well constructed
• you wear them properly

They act as a barrier and can filter out respiratory particles. This can help limit the spread of disease by reducing the amount of infectious respiratory particles you breathe in. This helps protect you from getting infected or sick.

Masks also work by containing infectious respiratory particles you produce if you’re sick, even if you don’t have symptoms. This helps prevent you from spreading infection to others.

You should choose the best quality and best fitting respirator or mask available to you.

Non-medical masks can help prevent the spread of respiratory infectious diseases, but respirators and medical masks provide better protection.

Learn more about:

• Respiratory infectious diseases: Mask use for reducing the spread
• COVID-19: Wear a well-constructed, well-fitting and properly worn mask or respirator (video)

When to wear a mask

Wear a mask anytime to help protect yourself and others from getting and spreading infectious respiratory diseases. This contributes to a community effort to help keep everyone safe.

Improve indoor ventilation

Good ventilation exchanges indoor air for outdoor air. This helps reduce the buildup of infectious respiratory particles in indoor air. Opening windows or doors regularly, even for a few minutes at a time, creates a cross-breeze and can improve natural ventilation.

If your indoor space has vents in the ceiling, walls or floor, then it probably uses a central heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. Ensuring this system has clean, well-maintained air filters can help reduce the levels of infectious respiratory particles indoors.

Bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans that vent outside can also help remove potentially contaminated air.

Air filtration can also help by removing infectious respiratory particles, smoke, dust and pollen from the air. An example of an air filtration system is a portable air purifier with a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter.

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.

Although improving indoor ventilation of certain spaces isn’t always in your control, there are other ways to improve ventilation in your setting. You can refer to the following resources or contact your ventilation system professional for advice.

Learn more about:

• COVID-19: Improving indoor ventilation

Infographics:

• Using a portable air cleaner to improve indoor air
• Maintain and improve indoor air quality
• Protecting your indoor air
• Ventilation helps protect against the spread of COVID-19

Videos:

• COVID-19: Improve ventilation by opening windows
• COVID-19: Improve ventilation by running exhaust fans
• COVID-19: Ways to improve ventilation and air filtration in your home

Practise hand hygiene

Hand hygiene means:

• washing your hands regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or
• using a hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol

This helps reduce the spread of respiratory infectious diseases by removing or killing germs on your hands.

If your hands are visibly dirty, you should wash them with soap and water instead of using hand sanitizer.

Some examples of when you should clean your hands include:

• when visibly dirty
• after using the washroom
• after removing a used mask
• after shaking someone’s hand
• before eating or handling food
• before touching your eyes, nose or mouth
• after coughing, sneezing or blowing your nose
• after touching frequently touched surfaces and objects

Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth with unclean hands to prevent germs from entering your body.

Learn more about:

• Clean your hands to help reduce the spread of infectious diseases
• Wash your hands to reduce the spread of COVID-19 (video)
• Reduce the spread of COVID-19: 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.

1. Cough or sneeze into a tissue or your elbow, not your hand.
2. Throw any used tissues into a lined waste container as soon as possible.
3. Clean your hands immediately afterwards.

Clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces and objects

High-touch surfaces and objects are those that people touch often, so they’re more likely to be contaminated by infectious particles. These include:

• toys
• toilets
• door handles
• light switches
• electronics like:
  • tablets
  • phones
  • computers
• tables and countertops

Cleaning and disinfecting high-touch surfaces and objects can remove and kill infectious particles. This reduces the risk of respiratory infectious diseases spreading to others through contact with a contaminated surface or object.

What to do if you become sick

Most people who become sick with a respiratory infectious disease experience mild symptoms, such as:

• fever
• runny or stuffy nose
• cough
• sneezing
• fatigue
• muscle or body aches

Mild to moderate symptoms of some viral illnesses can be treated with rest, fluids and over-the-counter medications for pain, fever or cold and flu symptoms.

If you’re worried about your symptoms or are at risk for more serious complications, consult your health care provider. They may prescribe treatments, or recommend steps or medications you can take.

When you’re sick, it’s especially important to use personal protective measures to help reduce the risk of spreading illness to others.