(Ohio News Connection) Whether it's COVID-19, the seasonal flu or a cold, health-care professionals say reducing your risk of illness starts with prevention.

All three respiratory diseases are caused by viruses and share similar symptoms including a cough, sore throat, and runny nose.

Elena Roach, a certified pediatric nurse practitioner for The Healthcare Connection, a Cincinnati-area federally qualified health center, said actions we take to prevent the spread of COVID can reduce the risk of getting a cold or the flu.

"Flu is spread from respiratory secretions, kind of like COVID," Roach explained. "And you sneeze and cough and eat and drink and talk, flu can spread that way as well."

Roach pointed out last year's mild flu season was the result of precautions taken during the pandemic. Those steps include avoiding close contact with people outside your household, frequent handwashing, and wearing a face mask while in indoor public places.

COVID spreads more easily than the flu and common cold and causes more serious illnesses, but Roach noted much like COVID, an infected person can spread the flu before they feel sick.

"The flu is contagious even before symptoms start for about four days," Roach emphasized. "And then for people who have been around somebody with the flu, like living in close quarters or close contact, symptoms can usually start within a week after contact."

A test can determine whether an illness is COVID or the seasonal flu, and Roach recommended calling a health-care provider if you are experiencing fever, body chills and other respiratory symptoms.

"The good thing about the flu is that there is a treatment for the flu called Tamaflu," Roach advised. "And as long as you start that within 72 hours of the onset of symptoms, it reduces your symptoms and the longevity of the course of the illness. "

She said you can boost your protection from both illnesses by getting vaccinated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who are vaccinated and become infected with flu or COVID experience fewer symptoms and are much less likely to be hospitalized.