Respiratory Illness Season Toolkit

At a glance

Public health partners can use this toolkit to prepare and protect their communities from respiratory illnesses, like influenza (flu), COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

A laptop screen shows a person typing on a keyboard with a variety of social media icons surrounding them.

About this toolkit

This toolkit provides essential resources and communication materials to assist public health partners in effectively engaging with the public, healthcare providers, and their partners before and during the respiratory illness season.

Prepare and protect your community

The risk of respiratory illnesses, such as flu, COVID-19, and RSV, remains a significant public health concern. In fact, last year, CDC estimated that at least 1 million people were hospitalized and more than 70,000 people died from respiratory virus illnesses.1 However, robust immunization programs, surveillance systems, and outbreak response capabilities supported by federal, state, tribal, local, and territorial health partners play a crucial role in mitigating this risk.

The good news is we have more tools than ever before to help people protect themselves, their families, and communities from severe illnesses. Vaccination is the most effective tool for preventing severe respiratory illnesses. CDC also recommends that all people use everyday prevention strategies to help reduce their risk from getting sick.

By using this toolkit, public health partners can ensure that communities are informed and equipped to handle the respiratory illness season effectively.

What's included

Sample social media messages, graphics, videos, handouts, and other respiratory illness-related tools for clinicians and other public health partners.

Request customizable materials

Communication materials for the public are available in additional languages and as editable or printer-friendly versions upon request.

To request these, please email: respiratory-illness@cdc.gov.

Social media

Looking for content to promote respiratory illness messaging to your social media audiences? We've got you covered.

The sample social media posts included here highlight CDC's latest materials related to respiratory viruses like flu, COVID-19, and RSV. We encourage you to share the suggested messages on your organization's social media platforms.

Handouts

Need content to inform your audiences about testing and treatment for respiratory illnesses? We've got you covered there too!

These printable handouts can help inform people about the available testing and treatment options for respiratory viruses like flu, COVID-19, and RSV. We encourage you to print and share these resources with the communities your serve.

Videos

Looking for content to share respiratory illness messaging through educational videos?

These animated videos highlight how to protect yourself from respiratory illnesses and take precautions when sick. We also include sample messaging you can use when sharing through your social channels. We encourage you to share these videos with the communities you serve to effectively communicate important information about respiratory illnesses.

  1. These estimates are based on the lower bounds of the ranges of burden estimates for flu, COVID-19, and RSV during 2024-2025 in the United States.