Summer is a time for kids to have fun, enjoy vacations, and especially their favorite outdoor activities. It’s also a time for parents to take notice, as many outdoor injuries and health hazards are preventable.

Chris Strother, MD, and Lauren Zinns, MD, emergency medicine specialists at The Mount Sinai Hospital and associate professors in emergency medicine and pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, share five key takeaways to help parents, caregivers, and families recognize and avoid common injuries and health hazards.

Young children are at a high risk of choking

• Common things they choke on are hot dogs, grapes, and small round toys. Ensure that food is cut into small pieces and that young children are supervised when they are eating.
• If your child is unable to cough or breathe while choking, call 911 first, then try these maneuvers:
  • For children younger than one year old: Place the infant face down on your arm resting on your thigh. With the palm of your other hand, give the baby five short, yet forceful, blows between the shoulder blades. If that is unsuccessful, place the infant on the back, put two of your fingers in the center of the chest below the nipples and press five times.  Continue five back blows and five chest thrusts until the foreign body is removed. Never place your finger inside the infant’s mouth as that could push the foreign body in further.
  • For children older than one year of age: Stand behind the child with your arms around the child’s waist. Make a fist and place it below the chest just above the navel.  Grab the fist with your other hand and push upward repeatedly until the food particle or toy is removed.

Bug bites and insect stings can cause mild to severe allergic reactions in kids

• Experts recommend bug spray on all exposed areas of skin, especially in the evenings when flying bugs are out the most, or in wooded areas where ticks are more likely to be found.
• If your child has a tick, try to remove it as soon as possible.
• Call your pediatrician if you notice a target-like lesion, as this could represent early signs of Lyme disease.
• Mosquito bites will often cause a local allergic reaction at the site, this is usually not dangerous. If the area becomes very large, is very painful, or if your child develops a fever, the site might be infected. Call your pediatrician or go to the Pediatric Emergency Department.

Practice safety in the water

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reports that drowning is the single leading cause of death among children ages 1 to 4. Adult supervision is critical at all times.

• Always swim with others.
• Learn to swim at a young age and practice.
• Wear a life jacket.
• Be aware of weather conditions.
• Make sure there is a lifeguard. If you aren’t watching the water, make sure someone else is watching for you, particularly with young children.
• Here are more tips from the AAP.

Riding bikes and scooting can be great exercise

• Wear a helmet when riding a bike or scooting. Accidents can happen fast.
• Keep your bike “tuned up.” Make sure brakes work well and tires are inflated and in good condition.
• Always obey traffic laws; ride with traffic if riding in the street.
• Wear bright colors when in the street so cars can see you.

Heat awareness: Make sure to hydrate

• Hydrate before and after you are in the heat. People don’t often think to drink before they go out, but it makes a huge difference to prevent dehydration.
• Look for shade if possible, and take frequent breaks from activity to rest.
• Sunblock is essential. Ensure that children are covered with sunscreen 30 SPF or greater to prevent burns, pain, and skin cancer later in life. Reapply frequently after swimming.

Being outside is wonderful for children’s development and health. However, if your plans include being in grassy or wooded areas, remember to try to protect your family from ticks and the risk of illnesses like Lyme disease.

The best protection is prevention. You can have children help in a way that also allows them to practice their developmental skills and understand the health benefits of avoiding ticks. Blair Hammond, MD, a pediatrician and Co-Founding Director for the Mount Sinai Parenting Center, explains how and offers four things to keep in mind and to discuss with your family.

Blair Hammond, MD

Choice and Independence

Encourage your child to pick out pants and long-sleeve shirts they’d like to wear to decrease the chance that a tick will get on the skin. You can treat outdoor clothing with permethrin, an insecticide, or buy already made tick-repellent clothing. Giving choices is great for fostering independence.

 Apply and Explain

You can apply insect repellent with DEET to your child’s exposed areas. You can make a game of it: “Where are your ankles? Let’s protect them with the insect repellent.”  Follow recommended safety tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on choosing the right product for your child’s needs. Remember that back and forth conversations and explaining things helps your child learn language and connect with you.

Routines

You can have a consistent routine of bathing after being outside (this removes non-attached ticks).  Also, try to incorporate tick checks into your nightly routines (a tick needs to be on a person for at least 24 to 48 hours to transmit Lyme disease). Pay special attention to hiding places like under the arms, in and around ears, behind legs, in the groin area, and along the scalp and in the hair. Having consistent routines helps with children’s self-regulation and behavior. Keeping pets free from ticks will also help. The AAP suggests checking your pets every day and using appropriate pet products.

No Need for Panic

If you do find a tick on you or your child, don’t panic. You can carefully remove the tick with tweezers by squeezing at the head and gently pulling back. If the tick has likely been on your child for more than 24 hours, or if you have any questions, call your health care provider. You can get additional guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about what you should do about tick bites.

On July 6, the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted traditional approval to Leqembi® (lecanemab), a drug developed by pharmaceutical firms Eisai and Biogen to treat Alzheimer’s disease. This decision converts the accelerated approval Leqembi received in January, following a confirmatory trial that demonstrated verified clinical benefit.

“Up until now, no one considered this a treatable disease,” says Mary Sano, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The full approval of lecanemab marks an exciting chapter for treating Alzheimer’s disease, providing physicians with more options. Cognitive specialists at Mount Sinai are now offering lecanemab as a treatment.

What is lecanemab and how does it tackle Alzheimer’s disease? How might a patient access it at Mount Sinai? Dr. Sano explains why this drug will make a big impact in treating this condition, which is all too common among the aging.

What is lecanemab?

Lecanemab is a monoclonal antibody treatment that’s designed to reduce amyloid beta plaques in the brain. It is delivered as an intravenous infusion, over approximately one hour, once every two weeks.

“It is widely accepted that amyloid beta is a defining agent for Alzheimer’s disease,” says Dr. Sano. While the causes of Alzheimer’s disease are not fully known, accumulations of amyloid beta and other proteins such as tau tangles have been observed in patients, and are hypothesized to cause memory and functional loss.

The drug has been approved for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild dementia. Patients in this category are still able to perform daily tasks, such as driving or going to work, but might experience memory lapses, such as forgetting words or location of objects.

What does this drug mean for patients?

In the confirmatory clinical trial that helped lecanemab clinch its full approval, the drug showed a statistically significant reduction in cognitive decline compared to placebo.

Pride Month, which fell on June, was a time for celebration, reflection, and remembrance of LGBTQ+ struggles and achievements. Throughout the United States’ history, the LGBTQ+ community has faced various health challenges and inequities, from the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s to the mpox outbreak last year.

Although LGBTQ+ individuals’ access to health care has improved compared to decades prior, various health concerns and disparities remain pertinent, says Erick Eiting, MD, MPH, Medical Director for the Emergency Department at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and for the Urgent Care Center at Mount Sinai-Union Square.

During Pride Month, Dr. Eiting and Antonio Urbina, MD, Medical Director of the Institute of Advanced Medicine, discussed health topics LGBTQ+ individuals should keep in mind, even as they celebrate the progress that has been made.

STI Testing: What’s Important?

Who should be thinking about getting tested for sexually transmitted infections (STIs)? Anyone who is sexually active should be considered for sexual health screening, although some groups may be more at risk, says Dr. Urbina.

While there is no hard rule for how often one should get tested, health providers at Mount Sinai offer screening every three months. These should include not only testing at genital sites, but also others including the throat and anal/rectal regions.

“That’s especially important because oftentimes, someone can have an STI in those compartments and they don’t have any symptoms at all,” says Dr. Urbina, “so the only way that you’re going to be able to detect them is if you actually swab or screen those areas as well.”

Common tests for gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis help detect infection and initiate treatment if needed. But other important tests include those for HIV, meningococcal meningitis, and human papillomavirus for vaccination and preventive purposes, Dr. Urbina adds.

HIV: Counseling, Testing, Treatment, Management

As it is hard to know, through initial conversations, which patients might be at risk for HIV, it is incredibly important for health providers to make sure they are not using judgmental language or biases during their interactions, says Dr. Eiting.

“It’s really important for everybody to know their status,” notes Dr. Eiting.

Telling someone that they are HIV-positive when they don’t already know is probably one of the most difficult conversations to have, he adds.

It is really important for people to know that having HIV is considered by the medical community these days as a chronic disease that is oftentimes well-managed with medication, Dr. Eiting says. It is also important for them to have a support system in place so that they may transition into living their lives with the condition, since HIV isn’t the same kind of disease that it was decades ago.

“I think it’s important for us to sometimes take pause and take stock and remember that even though Pride Month is a month of celebration, and to acknowledge how far we’ve come, we have to remind ourselves that it can often be a time when it really enhances isolation for patients who are feeling that as well,” says Dr. Eiting.

Seeking help for mental health or addiction can be daunting for patients due to stigma. But health providers at clinics across the city, including at Mount Sinai, are being trained to make access comfortable and judgment-free, and so patients should not hesitate to tap those resources when needed, Dr. Eiting says.

Affirming Across the Entire Spectrum

Even though the L in LGBTQ+ comes first, the lesbian community can sometimes be forgotten with respect to health care, notes Dr. Eiting. It is important for health providers to be aware of things like breast cancer or cervical cancer screening for this population.

Studies suggest that some lesbian and bisexual women get less routine health screenings than their heterosexual counterparts due to various factors, including fear of discrimination or low rates of health insurance.

Transgender health care encompasses not just gender-affirming surgeries, but also primary care. For transgender patients, sometimes seeking health care can be stressful because if the conversations are not conducted in a respectful way, they can cause dysphoria.

But stigma should not get in the way of having people live their fullest lives, and transgender individuals should take stock of what their health needs are and have conversations with their doctors, says Dr. Urbina.

Given the current climate of anti-transgender sentiment and legislation across the country, health providers should acknowledge that these developments do leave an impact on their transgender patients. “It’s just important for us to acknowledge that that’s out there… and to make sure that we’re using principles of trauma-informed care whenever we’re talking to our patients about their health care,” says Dr. Eiting.

Read more about how Mount Sinai is empowering health care for LGBTQ+ communities