The Five Biggest Summer Dangers Are Underway
Summer is the easiest season of the year to just let loose and most of us have. After all it's the most favorite season of the year for the majority of us. Swimming, BBQs, loads of outdoor events like music festivals, concerts, farmers' market, and block parties just to name a few.
Those long days filled with sunlight engulf us making it the happiest season of the year but also dangers we often overlook or rationalize away.
1) Heat kills more people each year than tornados, hurricanes, floods, and cold weather. According to CBS News the highest number of people in 45 years died last year from excessive heat. Now that 2,300 may not sound like a lot however just having a heat stroke or dehydration at any level is frightening.
Thousands of all ages are affected each year according to the Cleveland Clinic including heat cramps, a heat rash, and heat exhaustion, all which can ruin some of your summer.
2) Who hasn't had a sunburn or five or 10 in their lifetime. While they will ruin your summer for a few days each and every time, it's skin cancer that makes them dangerous and possibly deadly in years to come according to the Cleveland Clinic.
3) Food poisoning is at an all time high every summer according to the CDC. We all love a good outdoor party but because grilling is at its height in the warm months, the handling of raw meat and fish is also at a high.
People don't wash their hands as much nor wipe down the cooking area and utensils as they should which can pass bacteria like salmonella on to you.
4) Drowning takes more than 4,000 lives annually with 20% of those deaths in children 14 and younger. Whether it's riptides, big waves, muscle cramps, alcohol, or lack of swimming skills this is the time of year we're in the water the most.
5) Summer is tick and mosquito season. Both carry diseases are love humans. West Nile Virus is the most common disease carried by mosquitos in the United States according to the Cleveland Clinic and ticks carry Lyme disease. Mosquitoes outpace every organism as the deadliest in the world.
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