{"id":16119,"date":"2025-10-28T10:39:56","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T14:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?page_id=16119"},"modified":"2025-10-28T10:42:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T14:42:52","slug":"central-shenandoah-health-district-encourages-the-little-things-to-protect-against-respiratory-illnesses-this-fall","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/central-shenandoah-health-district-encourages-the-little-things-to-protect-against-respiratory-illnesses-this-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"Central Shenandoah Health District Encourages the \u2018Little Things\u2019 to Protect Against Respiratory Illnesses This Fall"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>October 28, 2025<br \/>\n<strong>Media Contact:<\/strong>\u00a0Rachel Dumene, <u><a href=\"mailto:Rachel.dumene1@vdh.virginia.gov\">Rachel.dumene1@vdh.virginia.gov<\/a><\/u>, 540-480-4998<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Central Shenandoah Health District Encourages the \u2018Little Things\u2019 to Protect Against Respiratory Illnesses This Fall<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>Wash Your Hands, Cover Your Coughs and Sneezes, Get Immunized<\/em><\/p>\n<p>STAUNTON, Va.<strong> \u2013 <\/strong>You can protect you and your family this fall from respiratory viruses like <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/coronavirus\/\">COVID-19<\/a><\/u>, <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/epidemiology\/influenza-flu-in-virginia\/\">flu<\/a><\/u>, and <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/epidemiology\/epidemiology\/epidemiology-fact-sheets\/respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv\/\">RSV<\/a><\/u> by doing some simple little things. The Central Shenandoah Health District (CSHD) shares three little things for a healthy fall: washing your hands, covering your coughs and sneezes, and getting immunized.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe \u2018Little Things\u2019 campaign highlights that small habits can make a big difference in our health,\u201d says Dr. Allison Baroco, Acting Health Director for CSHD. \u201cAll of these habits add protection to our defense against illness and to help keep us healthy throughout the respiratory illness season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Washing Hands<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/clean-hands\/about\/index.html\">Washing hands<\/a><\/u> takes a mere 20-30 seconds but can be key to keeping you healthy and preventing respiratory diseases. Germs can spread by touching surfaces and other people. Be sure to wash your hands:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.<\/li>\n<li>Before and after preparing food or eating.<\/li>\n<li>Before and after caring for someone else who is sick.<\/li>\n<li>After touching an animal, animal feed, or animal waste.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol to clean your hands.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Covering Your Cough<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Respiratory viruses can spread through droplets that are released when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks. To limit the spread of respiratory viruses, <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/flu-resources\/media\/pdfs\/2024\/08\/covercough_hcp11x17.pdf\">cover your mouth and nose<\/a><\/u>\u00a0with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Put your used tissue in the waste basket.<\/p>\n<p>If you don\u2019t have a tissue, cough into your upper sleeve or sneeze into your upper sleeve or elbow, not your hands.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Getting Immunized<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Everyone aged six months and older should get a <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/epidemiology\/influenza-flu-in-virginia\/influenza-prevention-protect-yourself-and-others-from-getting-the-flu\/\">flu shot<\/a><\/u>\u00a0every year, <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/epidemiology\/influenza-flu-in-virginia\/influenza-prevention-protect-yourself-and-others-from-getting-the-flu\/#noflu\">with a few exceptions<\/a><\/u>. Talk to a healthcare provider about which flu vaccines are recommended for you and your family.<\/p>\n<p>People aged six months and older can receive the COVID-19 vaccine based on <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/acip\/vaccine-recommendations\/shared-clinical-decision-making.html\">individual-based decision-making<\/a><\/u> with a healthcare provider.<\/p>\n<p>All adults aged 75 years and older are recommended to receive a single dose of one <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/epidemiology\/epidemiology\/epidemiology-fact-sheets\/respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv\/\">RSV vaccine<\/a><\/u>. If you are 60-74 years old with a health condition, speak with your healthcare provider to decide if the RSV vaccine is the right choice for you. Pregnant women and parents of newborns should also talk with their provider about the benefits of the RSV vaccine.<\/p>\n<p>If you are sick, <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/epidemiology\/respiratory-diseases-in-virginia\/precautions-when-sick\/\">stay home<\/a><\/u> to prevent additional spread of respiratory virus.<\/p>\n<p>For more information about how to stay healthy during respiratory illness season and all year round, visit <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/epidemiology\/respiratory-diseases-in-virginia\/\">www.vdh.virginia.gov\/epidemiology\/respiratory-diseases-in-virginia\/<\/a><\/u> or contact the Staunton-Augusta Health Department at (540) 332-7830.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October 28, 2025 Media Contact:\u00a0Rachel Dumene, Rachel.dumene1@vdh.virginia.gov, 540-480-4998 Central Shenandoah Health District Encourages the \u2018Little Things\u2019 to Protect Against Respiratory Illnesses This Fall Wash Your Hands, Cover Your Coughs and Sneezes, Get Immunized STAUNTON, Va. \u2013 You can protect you and your family this fall from respiratory viruses like COVID-19, flu, and RSV by doing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":518,"featured_media":0,"parent":12292,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[195,28,29,162,1304,704,761,1303],"class_list":["post-16119","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","tag-central-shenandoah-health-district","tag-covid-19","tag-flu","tag-flu-shot","tag-respiratory-diseases","tag-respiratory-illness","tag-rsv","tag-rsv-vaccine"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - 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