Staying safe and healthy this summer

With Memorial Day weekend in the rear-view mirror, the nation’s summer vacation season officially has begun. And experts are forecasting that the national pursuits of fun and relaxation in 2022 won’t just be heating up but will be “on fire.”

But as tens of millions of us hit the roads, take to the water and skies, or just enjoy the warmth and sunshine around the house, we also must take common sense measures to safeguard ourselves and our loved ones and ensure we stay healthy and well.

A little caution can go a long way.

So let’s focus on the harms posed by common pests, dangerous infections, and risky home projects. (Click on the hyperlinks scattered below for more information.) Here’s hoping this handful of precautions proves so helpful to you and yours that you stay healthy through the summer, the year, and far beyond!

To beat the heat, nothing beats splashing in the water. But whether it’s a swimming pool, river, lake or ocean, big risks lurk. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports this based on a decade of pre-pandemic statistics: “Every year in the United States there are an estimated: 3,960 fatal unintentional drownings, including boating-related drowning — that is an average of 11 drowning deaths per day and 8,080 nonfatal drownings — that is an average of 22 nonfatal drownings per day.”

Close calls can be nearly as bad as death. According to the feds:  “For every child who dies from drowning, another eight receive emergency department care for non-fatal drowning. More than 40% of drownings treated in emergency departments require hospitalization or transfer for further care (compared with 8% for all unintentional injuries). Drowning injuries can cause brain damage and other serious outcomes, including long-term disability.”

The Red Cross says three key steps can be life-changing and -saving: “Ensure every member of your family learns to swim so they at least achieve skills of water competency: able to enter the water, get a breath, stay afloat, change position, swim a distance then get out of the water safely. Employ layers of protection including barriers to prevent access to water, life jackets, and close supervision of children to prevent drowning. Know what to do in a water emergency – including how to help someone in trouble in the water safely, call for emergency help and [provide] CPR.”

The nonprofit safety group offers robust resources on its site [click here to access] for water safety, including a handy link to find youngsters’ swim lessons (which should start early). The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission also provides helpful information [click here] on how to keep swimming pools and spas safer for all.

After months of gray and cold, lots of us want to bask in the summer sun. Don’t overdo it, though. The CDC reports that: “Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States … An examination of …data suggests that each year, about 4.3 million adults are treated for basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas at a cost of about $4.8 billion.” While sunshine can provide healthful Vitamin D and boost the spirit, outdoor lovers also should stay in the shade, keep covered up, don hats and sunglasses, and wear appropriate screens to protect themselves from harmful rays.

That summer warmth can turn problematic or even deadly — fast. This is especially true as the weather gets more extreme due to climate change. CDC experts report this: “Heat-related deaths and illnesses are preventable. Despite this, around 618 people in the United States are killed by extreme heat every year … Heat-related illnesses, like heat exhaustion or heat stroke, happen when the body is not able to properly cool itself. While the body normally cools itself by sweating, during extreme heat, this might not be enough. In these cases, a person’s body temperature rises faster than it can cool itself down. This can cause damage to the brain and other vital organs. Older adults, the very young, and people with mental illness and chronic diseases are at highest risk. However, even young and healthy people can be affected if they participate in strenuous physical activities during hot weather.”

Heat disorders, including cramps, exhaustion, stroke, and rhabdomyolysis (a tissue- and organ-damaging condition), can be serious and deadly. They are preventable, the CDC says. When temperatures soar, take it easy. Stay hydrated and indoors during peak heat periods. Protect yourself from the sun, taking care to time activities in cooler parts of the day. Please safeguard kids and older adults when it gets hot, checking in on them and other vulnerable groups to ensure they are well and taking needed steps to be well. That goes for the pets, too. Make it part of your summer routine to double check that neither kids nor four-footed pals get left in a vehicle in the heat.

As our parents used to say, all wishes don’t come true. And as much as Americans may wish for an end to the coronavirus pandemic, it is resurging, not going away, as U.S. News and World report has found. So, the savvy and those with greater vulnerability to the illness will need to redouble their efforts to avoid infection, especially as the heat and humidity force many parts of the country indoors, in closer contact and with questionable ventilation.

The drill is familiar, as the CDC advises: get vaccinated and boosted, cover your face, and minimize exposure, especially in crowds and in closed quarters. Be extra prepared by stocking up on tests, including those that are free from the federal government. It will pay to ensure you’re ready for exposure or illness, with a good thermometer, maybe a blood oxygen testing device, over-the-counter painkillers, stores of tissue, and juices and soups.

Testing and face covering? The former is recommended for travelers, while the latter may not be popular but a wise idea (and it may be required in parts of your trip, fyi). Those who have ambitious travel plans need to factor in scenarios in which they may be far from home and needing to find not only testing sites but also coronavirus treatment and spots to stay while quarantining. Sure, you may have snagged a deal on great accommodations for that planned trip. But what happens if you must extend your stay and if you can’t go dashing about freely because you may be ill? Domestic travelers potentially will have greater access to “test and treat” facilities — pharmacies and clinics that not only can diagnose a coronavirus infection but also offer antivirals like Paxlovid. Those with higher concern should talk with their primary care physicians before departure to ensure that they can be reached quickly and conveniently for a remote prescription of coronavirus-fighting therapies.

Summer is also prime time for pests with wings, stingers, and biting mouths. With the climate becoming warmer and wetter in the southern part of the country that includes the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, insect experts and others have warned (and I have written about before) us DMV locals to brace for an onslaught of ticks, mosquitoes, flies, and other potentially infection-carrying insects.

Beware, too, of close encounters with snakes, coyotes, and even bears.

The insect pests, as well as disease-carrying animals like deer, chipmunks, and birds, are bringing us not only familiar illnesses like Lyme and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. The bite of a fast-advancing type of tick, for example, is spreading an allergy in many humans to red meat, pork, and chicken, as the Washington Post reported. Mosquitoes in the area, health agencies in the area report, have infected DMV residents with West Nile, dengue fever, yellow fever, encephalitis, and less common ills like Zika and chikungunya.

Fight back against common summer pests by dressing right, using and wearing repellants, and sweeping your preferred outdoor areas of standing water, decaying materials, pet foods, and other insect favorites, as the Washington Post reported. Want to know more about battling ticks? Try a news organization’s helpful quiz (click here). The state of Maryland has handy information about combatting skeeters (click here or here). Those who want to go deep on “vector borne” ills can dive into Virginia’s “Bugs and human health” online resources (click here).

For any food you prepare and serve this summer, especially outdoors but also inside: keep  in mind the quartet of key safety steps CDC officials emphasize: cleanliness, separation of raw and ready-to-eat items to avoid cross-contamination, cooking to correct temperatures, and refrigerating perishable goods, pronto.

The numbers of preventable injuries are staggering: federal experts estimate that each year 48 million people get sick from a foodborne illness, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die.

As the CDC has reported, scientists have identified more than 250 foodborne diseases, most of them “infections, caused by a variety of bacteria, viruses, and parasites.” And “harmful toxins and chemicals also can contaminate foods and cause foodborne illness,” the CDC says.

The federal experts also warn: “Common symptoms of foodborne diseases are nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, and diarrhea. However, symptoms may differ among the different types of foodborne diseases. Symptoms can sometimes be severe, and some foodborne illnesses can even be life-threatening. Although anyone can get a foodborne illness, some people are more likely to develop one. Those groups include: Older adults, young children, people with immune systems weakened from medical conditions, such as diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease, organ transplants, or HIV/AIDS, or from receiving chemotherapy or radiation treatment, and pregnant women. Most people with a foodborne illness get better without medical treatment, but people with severe symptoms should see their doctor.”