The most effective way to prevent RSV in adults is vaccination, now recommended by the CDC for everyone 75 and older and for adults 50 to 74 with certain chronic conditions. Beyond vaccination, the same hygiene habits that protect against other respiratory viruses, like regular handwashing and avoiding close contact with sick people, meaningfully reduce your risk. Here’s what works and who should prioritize each strategy.
Who Should Get the RSV Vaccine
Two RSV vaccines are available for adults. The CDC recommends them for two groups: all adults 75 and older, and adults 50 to 74 who have conditions that raise their risk of severe RSV illness. Those conditions include chronic lung disease (like COPD or asthma), chronic heart disease, weakened immune systems, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, severe obesity, and living in a nursing home.
The risk differences are substantial. Adults 50 and older with chronic kidney disease are about six times more likely to be hospitalized for RSV than those without it. COPD raises the hospitalization rate nearly fivefold, severe obesity quadruples it, and asthma triples it. Diabetes roughly doubles the risk, as does current smoking. If you have any of these conditions and you’re over 50, the vaccine is specifically intended for you.
How Well the Vaccines Work
In pooled data from the two major clinical trials, the vaccines reduced RSV-related lower respiratory tract disease by about 69% in adults 75 and older and by about 73% in at-risk adults aged 60 to 74. That’s a meaningful level of protection, roughly comparable to what a typical flu vaccine achieves in a good year.
Side effects are common but mostly mild. In post-market safety monitoring of more than 16,000 vaccinated adults, about 39% reported symptoms they attributed to the vaccine in the first week. Injection site soreness was the most frequent complaint, and most cases were mild or moderate. Systemic symptoms like fatigue or muscle aches were reported by roughly 22% to 37% of recipients depending on which vaccine they received. A rare but serious concern is Guillain-Barré syndrome, a neurological condition. Reporting rates after RSV vaccination were higher than expected background rates, but still extremely low: between roughly 2 and 4 cases per million doses administered.
When to Get Vaccinated
RSV season in most of the United States starts in the fall and peaks during winter, though the exact timing shifts from year to year and varies by region. Getting vaccinated before the season ramps up, ideally in late summer or early fall, gives your immune system time to build protection before peak circulation. If you missed that window, getting vaccinated later in the season still offers benefit for the remaining weeks of RSV activity.
Everyday Habits That Lower Your Risk
RSV spreads three ways: through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes near you, through direct contact like touching or kissing someone who’s infected, and through contaminated surfaces. People with RSV are contagious for 3 to 8 days and can start spreading the virus a day or two before symptoms appear, which means you can catch it from someone who doesn’t yet look sick.
The virus is surprisingly durable outside the body. It survives for many hours on hard surfaces like doorknobs, countertops, and phones, and for about 30 minutes on unwashed hands. That makes hand hygiene one of the most practical defenses you have.
Both soap and water and alcohol-based hand sanitizer reduce respiratory virus transmission, but the evidence slightly favors sanitizer in real-world settings. A systematic review of multiple trials found that hand sanitizer appeared more effective in practice, with one trial showing a 13% lower risk of respiratory infection among people using sanitizer compared to soap and water alone. The likely reason is convenience: sanitizer is faster and easier to use frequently, so people actually do it more often. Keeping a small bottle of hand sanitizer accessible, in your bag, at your desk, in your car, makes it easier to clean your hands after touching shared surfaces throughout the day.
Avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands is equally important, since those are the entry points the virus uses. During peak RSV season, staying away from people with obvious cold symptoms and washing your hands after being in crowded public spaces both reduce exposure.
Vitamin D and Immune Readiness
There’s growing evidence linking low vitamin D levels to both higher rates and greater severity of RSV infections. Lab research shows that vitamin D helps protect the barrier function of airway cells, essentially helping the lining of your lungs resist viral damage. Population studies have found an inverse relationship between vitamin D levels and RSV incidence, and certain genetic variations in vitamin D receptors are associated with more severe RSV disease.
This doesn’t mean vitamin D supplements are a proven RSV prevention tool in the same way a vaccine is. But maintaining adequate vitamin D levels, through sun exposure, diet, or supplementation if you’re deficient, supports respiratory immune function more broadly. Adults over 50, particularly those who spend limited time outdoors or live in northern climates, are more likely to be deficient.
What’s Not Available for Adults
You may have heard about monoclonal antibody treatments that prevent severe RSV. These products are currently authorized only for infants and some young children, not for adults. For now, vaccination and basic hygiene measures remain the primary prevention tools for the adult population. If you’re in a high-risk group and haven’t been vaccinated, that single step offers the largest reduction in your chances of ending up in the hospital with RSV.