With the Independence Day holiday comes a myriad of safety recommendations from public health agencies and politicians alike.

Government warnings about food safety, fireworks precautions, and sun protection are part of the Fourth of July holiday, and although the advice may seem like common knowledge, hospital and emergency room visits tend to spike over Independence Day week.

On average, nearly 91,000 people visit emergency rooms on July 4 and 5, according to the Pew Research Center. That is compared to a national summertime average of nearly 41,000, making Independence Day one of the most dangerous holidays of the year.

Here is some of the best advice from government public health agencies on how to protect yourself from simple mistakes this holiday.

Food poisoning

Last month, a photo of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) with cheese on a raw hamburger patty in a staged Father’s Day grilling scene went viral, leading to an onslaught of criticism of the 73-year-old legislator.

The kerfuffle also sparked increased interest in safe internal temperatures for meat as well as proper storage.

“Set off fireworks of flavor – not foodborne illness!” the U.S. Department of Agriculture‘s annual Fourth of July safety message reads.

For those who like smoking their meats over low heat for extended periods, the USDA recommends keeping the temperature between 225 and 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends throwing out sauces and marinades that have touched raw meat to avoid bacteria cross-contamination.

Both the CDC and the USDA promote the acronym CSCC, or clean, separate, cook, and chill, as a simple reminder to keep food safe from contamination.

Fireworks safety

Fireworks caused approximately 9,700 injuries and eight deaths last year, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. About 42% of the injuries were burns.

Of the 1,500 emergency room visits, 700 were due to sparkler injuries, and 800 were associated with firecrackers.

“Nobody wants to spend July 4th in the ER with their kid,” the USCPSC posted on X. “Let kids look at sparklers, but since it’s a stick burning hot enough to melt some metals, handle it yourself.

The agency reported that the most common fireworks-related injury was to hands and fingers, recommending that those who light fireworks do so quickly and then distance themselves immediately.

Sun protection for skin

With July being UV Light Safety Awareness Month, Independence Day is ripe for messages on sunscreen use.

“Like many Americans, I’m looking forward to getting outside this week to celebrate our nation’s independence,” Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) said Wednesday on X. “Whether you’re barbecuing, going swimming, or watching a parade, it’s always a good idea to protect your skin from harmful rays!”

The CDC recommends staying in the shade during peak sun hours and using sunscreen that is SPF 15 or higher to lower the risk of skin cancer. Sunglasses are also good eye protection.

The sniffles of young children may have protected them from the worst effects of COVID-19 infections, according to a new study published this week in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

After testing nasal swabs from children who visited the emergency room during the height of the COVID pandemic, researchers discovered that children’s innate immune response to other viruses and bacteria helped to minimize the severity of COVID infection.

While it takes time for the body to develop antibodies to target specific pathogens, the body’s first line of defense against infection, known as the innate immune response, takes over. 

Study authors concluded that children had less severe effects of COVID due to their already active innate immune response that was protecting them from other viruses and bacteria. Because children’s innate immune response is more active than adults’, they likely had stronger responses to COVID infections.

“Activation of generalized antiviral defenses in children by other infections may have helped to fight off the initial stages of SARS-CoV-2 infection, leading to less severe outcomes in children compared with adults,” said a press release from the journal’s publisher, Rockefeller University Press.

The team of researchers, led by associate professor at Yale School of Medicine Ellen Foxman, tested over 600 nasal swabs from children for a host of viruses and bacteria, not just for COVID. 

Roughly half of the samples from children under age 5 had respiratory infections other than COVID. 

Samples were also collected from 1-year-olds in their routine well-child checkup and two-week follow-ups. Comparisons showed that more than half tested positive for a respiratory virus during one of their two visits, meaning that they either had gotten or recovered from an infection within that short time period.

Although the innate immune response in children is not continuously active, the findings suggest that it is more often activated because children are more easily infected with relatively harmless respiratory bugs. This may be because children do not have the benefit of having developed antibodies from prior exposure.

This worked to their advantage when exposed to COVID, however, because even adults did not have antibody protection against the novel virus.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, approximately 234,000 children under age 18 were hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID from fall 2020 to spring 2024. This peaked to over 6,500 hospital admissions in one week during the omicron surge in January 2022. 

By spring 2024, there were as low as 310 hospital admissions of children with confirmed cases of COVID.