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There are multiple ways to protect yourself from getting sick this upcoming 2025 - 2026 respiratory season. Dr. Richard Fawcett, Deschutes County Health Officer, says “One of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of these diseases and avoid severe illness is by staying up to date on vaccinations. Other good strategies include washing your hands frequently, cleaning and disinfecting surfaces, avoiding crowded or poorly ventilated spaces, and staying home when you’re sick."
2025-26 Flu Season
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention (CDC), Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and Oregon Health Authority (OHA) recommend the annual influenza vaccine to everyone 6 months of age and older, except in rare cases of contraindication. This includes all children, adults, and pregnant women. Some viruses, like the flu, change rapidly. This kind of quick turn over means that people need to update their defenses against the virus more often than they do for other types of viruses. This season, all US influenza vaccines are trivalent (three components), covering 2 type A strains and 1 type B strain, according to the CDC. While there are no preferential recommendations made between vaccine types for most individuals, there are still recommendations for kids and older adults.
- For adults aged 65 years and older the preferred influenza vaccines are high dose, inactivated, recombinant or adjuvanted inactivated formulations whenever they are available.
- Children aged 6 months to 8 years who are receiving influenza vaccine for the first time (or with unknown prior vaccination history) should be given 2 doses at least 4 weeks apart.
September and October are the best months for most people to get vaccinated. Protection may decrease over time, and flu activity typically peaks between December and February. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that people get vaccinated by October 31, but you can get the vaccine at any time during flu season. Most health care insurance plans cover the annual flu vaccination as preventive care. Flu vaccination is often available at no or low cost to people who do not have insurance.
2025-2026 Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Season
Much like the flu vaccine, RSV was reviewed and recommended by the ACIP.
For infants and children:
- We are continuing to wait for the final sign off on the new RSV monoclonal antibody for infants by the ACIP.
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The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) outlines recommendations for the prevention of RSV disease in infants and children.
- Public Health recommend parents and caregivers wait to vaccinate their child until the RSV season has been declared in order to receive the best protection; the timing to declare an RSV season varies from state-to-state.
For adults:
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CDC recommends a single dose of any FDA-licensed RSV vaccine for all adults ages 75 and older and adults ages 50–74 at increased risk of severe RSV.
- Three RSV vaccines are currently available for adults of different ages: GSK’s Arexvy, Moderna’s mResvia, and Pfizer’s Abrysvo. RSV vaccines should be given to eligible adults, as licensed.
- Eligible adults can get an RSV vaccine at any time, but the best time to vaccinate patients is in late summer and early fall before RSV usually starts to spread in the community.
- The RSV vaccine is not currently an annual vaccine. People who have already received one dose (including last year) have completed their vaccination and should not receive another dose at this time.
2025-2026 COVID Vaccine
CDC and OHA recommendations for who should get the updated COVID-19 vaccine this fall are underway. More information to come.
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