Current Events in May 2022

COVID-19 ‌tally‌ ‌as‌ ‌‌compiled‌‌ ‌by‌ ‌Johns‌ ‌Hopkins‌ ‌University.‌ ‌(Previous‌ ‌numbers‌ ‌in‌ ‌parentheses.)‌

Total‌ ‌U.S.‌ ‌confirmed‌ ‌cases:‌ 82,330,411 (82,227,408)

Total‌ ‌U.S.‌ ‌deaths:‌ 999,138 (999,009)

Total‌ ‌global‌ ‌cases:‌ 520,227,679 (519,604,066)

Total ‌global‌ ‌deaths:‌ 6,260,880 (6,258,885)‌

The reprieve may be over, experts say

There’s no question that cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. dropped sharply in March. At one point, the U.S. was 13th in the world in the seven-day average of new cases. Now it's back up to second behind Germany.

The medical information publication STAT suggests that the reprieve the U.S. enjoyed is ending because new cases caused by subvariants of Omicron are spreading quickly. Despite the increase in new cases, the death and hospitalization rate has remained the same.

Meanwhile, the official COVID-19 death toll tracked by Johns Hopkins University remains just below the 1 million mark.

COVID-19 summit receives pledges of financial aid

World leaders gathered virtually Thursday for the 2nd Global COVID-19 Summit, and the White House says the participating governments made major new policy and financial commitments to make vaccines available to those at the highest risk, to expand access to tests and treatments, and to prevent future health crises. 

“Financially, leaders committed to provide $3.2 billion in new funding – additional to previous 2022 pledges, while acknowledging the need is still great,” the White House said in a statement. “This includes nearly $2.5 billion for COVID-19 and related response activities and $712 million in new commitments toward a new pandemic preparedness and global health security fund at the World Bank.”

Summit participants committed to double down on their collective efforts to control COVID-19 by directing their efforts to increase protections for high-risk populations.

Americans hit the bottle early in the pandemic, study finds

Adult alcohol consumption patterns changed during the pandemic, with a new study in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research finding that Americans drank more during the first 42 weeks.

The study said it is unknown if the pattern persisted after that initial period. It attributes the initial binge to stress, reduced health care access, economic distress, and the sudden availability of alcohol delivery services.

In the aggregate sample, the average past-week drinking days increased from 1.17 in March to 1.48-to-1.55 in the next month. Those numbers gradually dropped throughout the year and ranged from 1.2 to 1.33 during the last four months of the study period. 

Around the nation

• New Hampshire: New cases of the coronavirus are spreading across the Northeast, and New Hampshire is bearing the brunt of the outbreak. Reported active cases in the state hit 4,000 for the first time since mid-February. Hospitalizations also increased, rising above 100.

• Iowa: A state court judge has ruled that a hospital administrator who refused the COVID-19 vaccine, refused to be screened for the virus, and refused to wear a mask is not entitled to collect jobless benefits after being fired. Joshua Braunschweig had been employed by Buena Vista Regional Medical Center in Storm Lake.

• Michigan: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has placed nearly all of Southeastern Michigan in the “high risk of transmission” category. Cases have risen in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Livingston, and St. Clair counties in recent days.

• Oregon: State health officials say they expect a significant increase in COVID-19 cases over the next few weeks, but they also expect most of those cases to be mild. At-risk people should continue to mask up, but one official says they "want people to be gathering" and "doing the things that are important to them."

• Louisiana: Schoolchildren will have to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend school in the fall. In the state legislature, the Senate Health and Welfare committee rejected a House resolution on Wednesday to repeal a state rule requiring COVID-19 vaccines for students.

If you need a copy of a previous tax return from the IRS, you may be out of luck. According to a recently released report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (IG), the U.S. income tax agency laid waste to data belonging to an estimated 30 million filers in March 2021.

The IG called it a “management decision” stemming from the IRS’ “continued inability to process backlogs of paper-filed tax returns.” The IRS made another decision to cut back on its handling of paper earlier this year when it decided to suspend the mailing of additional letters, such as balance due notices and unfiled tax return notices, to taxpayers.

The push to e-file

While the agency didn’t come right out and say it would rather have taxpayers file electronically, the report spent considerable ink promoting e-filed tax returns as the preference. 

“[E-filings] are sent through a number of upfront validations that check for more than 1,000 possible errors before the IRS accepts an e-filed tax return for processing,” the report said.

The agency says filing electronically comes with other benefits, including: 

• No need to mail paper tax returns

• Greater tax return accuracy

• Confirmation that the IRS received the tax return

• Secure and confidential submission of highly personal tax return information, and

• E-filing substantially reduces IRS processing costs.

The IG stated that the error rates are a lot lower for e-filed returns when compared to paper-filed tax returns. For example, the paper-filed tax return error rate was almost 10 times greater than the e-filed tax return error rate during the 2020 tax year.

Despite what might be a push towards e-filing, the public may have a different preference when it comes to filing taxes. Earlier this year, a separate study by tax preparation company Jackson Hewitt suggested that taxpayers aren’t all that smitten with going the e-file route because of added costs and the difficulty it takes to correct a mistake. 

Tax preparers give the move a thumbs-down

Tax professionals were aghast at the IRS' decision to delete tax data. Paul Miller, Managing Partner & CPA of Miller & Co., LLP, told ConsumerAffairs that the IRS needs to be upfront with what data it's deleting.

"Of course this can cause more delays in processing returns, getting refunds, clearing notices etc. Taxpayers are totally frustrated, as calling the IRS is an impossible task. As professionals, we have a dedicated line and we still have to wait. This is going to increase the nightmare that already exists," he said.

Miller went on to note that the IRS eroded its reputation even further recently over an "enormous amount of fraud" that the agency has encountered. He said a number of his clients are getting letters to verify their identity because the IRS doesn’t know if the return filed is actually the return of the taxpayer. To combat that fraud, the IRS is now using ID Me to verify taxpayers. It is also requesting that taxpayers get an ID Protection PIN number.

ConsumerAffairs reached out to the IRS for comment, but the agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

---

Update

The IRS has issued a statement that clarifies which tax forms were destroyed and why the agency took that step:

"In 2020, the IRS prioritized the processing of backlogged tax returns to get taxpayers their refunds and support other COVID-related relief over inputting the less than 1% of information documents – mostly Form 1099s –  that were submitted on paper," the agency told ConsumerAffairs.

"System constraints require IRS to process these paper forms by the end of the calendar year in which they were received. This meant that these returns could no longer be processed once filing season 2021 began. Not processing these information returns did not impact original return filing by taxpayers in any way as taxpayers received their own copy to use in filing an accurate return. The IRS is planning to process all paper information returns received in 2021 and 2022."

While many parents worry about the mental and physical health risks associated with kids’ screen time, a new study conducted by researchers from the Karolinska Institute may make some parents feel better about their kids playing video games. 

According to the findings, kids who spend a lot of time playing video games may also have higher intelligence levels. 

“We didn’t examine the effects of screen behavior on physical activity, sleep, well-being, or school performance, so we can’t say anything about that,” said researcher Torkel Klingberg. “But our results support the claim that screen time generally doesn’t impair children’s cognitive abilities, and that playing video games can actually help boost intelligence. This is consistent with several experimental studies of video-game playing.” 

Positive effects of video games

For the study, the researchers analyzed data from nearly 10,000 children enrolled in the ABCD study in the U.S. At the start of the study, parents answered questions about how often their children were in front of screens using social media, watching TV, and playing video games. The children also completed several different assessments to measure intelligence. The team then followed up with the children over the course of two years to measure changes over time. 

The study showed that the kids involved in the study spent an average of an hour playing video games each day. However, kids who surpassed that were also likely to have higher IQs. Playing video games for an hour or more every day was linked with raising IQ scores by as many as 2.5 points. 

It’s important to note that this same trend wasn’t observed for the other forms of screen time, including watching TV or being on social media. 

While the team plans to do more work in this area to better understand what other influences can affect kids’ intelligence, these findings highlight one way that kids can benefit from playing video games. 

“We’ll now be studying the effects of other environmental factors and how the cognitive effects relate to childhood brain development,” Klingberg said. 

A new study conducted by researchers from City University London explored how different social dynamics may affect what consumers eat. According to the findings, being around new groups of people may prompt consumers to make healthier choices out of fear of being judged for unhealthier options. 

“We know that food plays an important role in social life and consumers often make inferences about others’ traits and characteristics based on their food choices,” said researcher Dr. Janina Steinmetz.  

Social pressure may affect food choices

For the study, the researchers conducted several different experiments to understand how social dynamics affected food choices. First, the team explored how people who are part of different groups – racial groups, university students, and workplace employees – were affected by eating with others who are in their groups versus outsiders. 

They learned that in each of the groups, being around newcomers led to healthier food choices. When university students were around students from other schools, they were more likely to choose healthier snacks; however, when in the presence of students from their own school, their snack choices weren’t as healthy. The same was true for participants of specific racial groups and employees at workplaces. 

The researchers explained that the feeling of judgment from people who are considered to be outsiders is what prompts much of this behavior. To avoid feeling judged for eating something unhealthy and to make a good impression in front of new people, consumers are more likely to make healthier choices. 

The team found similar results in another study of nearly 200 college students. The participants were offered either raisins or M&Ms as a snack when in the presence of either unknown students from their school or unknown students from another school. The participants were nearly three times as likely to choose the raisins when around students from a different school versus when they were with other students from their own schools. 

The team hopes these findings are used to help promote healthy eating habits, especially knowing that many consumers want to make a good impression in front of people they don’t know well. 

“Our research shows that we can use this important role of food for consumer welfare if we highlight that healthy food is not only good for consumers, but also helps them to impress others,” Dr. Steinmetz said. 

The sticker shock at the gas pump continued for another week in every region of the nation. The prices of gasoline and diesel fuel remain at record highs.

AAA’s daily fuel price survey shows that the national average price of regular gas is $4.43 a gallon, an increase of 16 cents a gallon since last Friday. The average price of premium gas is $5.07 a gallon, 15 cents more than a week ago.

Rising diesel fuel prices slowed this week, but they're still at a record high of $5.56 a gallon. The one-week increase is only five cents a gallon. 

According to Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, U.S. consumers are spending $125 million more per day on gasoline than they did just a month ago.

Several states saw head-spinning price increases at the gas pump this week. The statewide average soared by 26 cents a gallon in Illinois, 25 cents a gallon in Illinois, and 20 cents a gallon in Texas.

The average price increased 18 cents in Georgia and Minnesota; 16 cents in Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, and Louisiana; and 15 cents in Washington, Oregon, and Oklahoma.

States with the most expensive gas

These states currently have the highest prices for regular gas, according to AAA:

• California ($5.85)    

• Hawaii ($5.30)     

• Nevada ($5.12)

• Washington ($4.90)  

• Oregon ($4.88)   

• Alaska ($4.81)   

• Illinois ($4.80)    

• Arizona ($4.70)   

• New York ($4.66)  

• Idaho ($4.50)   

States with the cheapest gas

AAA reports that these states currently have the lowest prices for regular gas:

• Georgia ($3.94)   

• Kansas ($3.98)  

• Oklahoma ($4.00) 

• Arkansas ($4.00)  

• Mississippi ($4.00)  

• Missouri ($4.01)    

• Louisiana ($4.07)  

• Nebraska ($4.07)  

• Texas ($4.10)     

• Minnesota ($4.10)  

Polaris Industries of Medina, Minn., is recalling about 1,200 model year 2022 RZR Pro R 4 Premium and RZR Pro R 4 Ultimate recreational off-road vehicles.

An incorrectly routed battery cable can contact the prop shaft during use. This can result in an electrical short that increases the risk of a fire.

The firm has received one report of a vehicle losing power after start up. No injuries or fires have been reported.

This recall involves certain VINs of model year 2022 RZR Pro R 4 Premium and Ultimate vehicles. The recalled vehicles were sold in black, blue, and lime in a four-seat configuration.

POLARIS is stamped on the front grille and POLARIS and RZR are printed on the sides of the vehicles. The model name is also printed on the side of the chassis. The VIN is located on the vehicle’s frame in the left rear wheel well.

The off-road vehicles, manufactured in Mexico, were sold at Polaris dealers nationwide from May 2021, through April 2022, for between $39,000 and $45,000.

What to do

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled vehicles and contact a Polaris dealer to schedule a free inspection and repair. The dealer will re-route the battery cable and, if needed, replace it free of charge.

Polaris has notified consumers to stop riding the vehicles and is contacting registered owners directly to provide more details about the repair.

Consumers may contact Polaris online or by phone at (800) 765-2747 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (CT) Monday through Friday to check if their vehicle identification number (VIN) is included in any recalls.

Strauss Israel of Israel is recalling Elite brand Chocolates, Cakes, Wafers, Energy Grain Snacks, Energy Chocolate Rice Cakes, Chewing Gum, and Toffee Candies.

The products may be contaminated with salmonella. No illnesses have been reported to date.

The recalled products were sold in the kosher market nationally but primarily in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, and Florida. They were sold directly to customers by Amazon.com, Fresh Direct, Passover.com, and all retailer online sites. The full list of affected products may be found here.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should not consume them. Instead, they should return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Consumers with questions may contact Strauss Israel online or by email at eliterecall@kayco.com.

Chrysler is recalling 114 model year 2022 Jeep Compass vehicles.

The front seat head restraints were not welded properly.

Improperly welded head restraints can result in an increased risk of injury to seat occupants in a crash.

What to do

Dealers will replace both front seat head restraints free of charge.

Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on June 3, 2022.

Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at (800) 853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is Z36.

Just weeks before the doors of the summer travel season blow wide open, a new survey shows that vaccinated international travelers consider pre-departure testing requirements as a barrier to them visiting the U.S.

The survey – conducted by Morning Consult for the U.S. Travel Association (USTA) – took the pulse of vaccinated international travelers in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, South Korea, Japan, and India, which are countries that contribute a lot of tourism to the United States. 

Major international U.S.-based carriers like United, American, and Delta may be concerned because of these findings:

• Nearly half of respondents (47%) who are unlikely to travel abroad in the next 12 months cited pre-departure testing requirements as a reason for not doing so. 

• Another half of respondents (54%) said pre-departure testing requirements would have a sizable impact on their likelihood to specifically visit the U.S.

• A large majority of adults surveyed (71%) said they prioritize traveling to destinations without cumbersome entry requirements, including 29% who strongly agree with that sentiment.

Saving the summer travel season

Despite the bleak projections, the USTA says the U.S. government still has time to save the summer travel season and quicken the travel industry’s recovery.

While half of the survey respondents said they wouldn't travel from abroad to visit the U.S, another 46% of respondents said they would be more likely to visit if pre-departure testing requirements for vaccinated adults were lifted.

The USTA said the removal of the pre-departure testing requirement would likely lead to 20% more travelers coming to the U.S. this summer than previously anticipated. Willis Orlando, a senior product operations specialist at Scott’s Cheap Flights, concurs.

“Since the travel industry started to recover, we’ve seen time and time again that the removal of barriers to entry to any single country-particularly testing requirements has been correlated with increased bookings,” Orlando told ConsumerAffairs. 

“Not only would a removal of the pre-departure testing requirement for entry to the U.S. help boost the number of international visitors coming to the U.S., giving a boost to everyone in the travel and hospitality business, but it would also help give more Americans the confidence to strike out and go abroad again,” he added.

Orlando says there are good fares to be had for Americans who are willing to adhere to testing requirements before they come back home, mainly because of the lagging demand for international business travel.

COVID-19 ‌tally‌ ‌as‌ ‌‌compiled‌‌ ‌by‌ ‌Johns‌ ‌Hopkins‌ ‌University.‌ ‌(Previous‌ ‌numbers‌ ‌in‌ ‌parentheses.)‌

Total‌ ‌U.S.‌ ‌confirmed‌ ‌cases:‌ 82,256,336 (82,061,553)

Total‌ ‌U.S.‌ ‌deaths:‌ 998,898 (998,078)

Total‌ ‌global‌ ‌cases:‌ 519,748,728 (518,823,826)

Total ‌global‌ ‌deaths:‌ 6,259,219 (6,256,043)‌

White House marks 1 million U.S. dead

President Biden is using the second Global COVID Summit, a virtual gathering of world leaders, nongovernmental organizations, and private sector companies, to commemorate the deaths of 1 million Americans from COVID-19.

The president may be a little early. The semi-official tally maintained by Johns Hopkins University shows that the death toll is approaching one million but is currently short of that mark. Even so, Biden says it’s as good a time as any to pause and reflect.

"To those who are grieving, and asking yourself how will you go on without him or what will you do without her, I understand,” the president said in a statement. I know the pain of that black hole in your heart. It is unrelenting. But I also know the ones you love are never truly gone. They will always be with you.”

More vaccinated people are dying as subvariants spread

Just a few months ago, the number of unvaccinated people dying from COVID-19 far outnumbered those who were vaccinated. But the proliferation of subvariants seems to have flipped that script.

Federal data shows that less than a quarter of all COVID-19 deaths were among the vaccinated in the second half of September -- before the Omicron variant's arrival. But during January and February, more than 40% of COVID-19 deaths were among vaccinated people.

While the subvariants are believed to cause less severe symptoms, health experts say elderly people who were among the first to be vaccinated may be less protected, especially if they haven’t received a booster shot.

U.S. health officials hid early data on COVID-19

The acting director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) told Congress Wednesday that U.S. health officials honored a request from China and concealed early genomic sequences of the COVID-19 virus. Critics say that information could have been used to trace the origin of the coronavirus.

Lawrence Tabak told a House Appropriations subcommittee that the NIH “eliminated from public view” the information retrieved from Wuhan, China, in 2020 -- the location of the earliest outbreak.

Some scientists say the data could perhaps resolve whether the virus leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology or passed naturally from animals to humans.

Around the nation

• Colorado: UCHealth in Aurora has established a clinic that will focus its attention on the condition known as “long COVID.” Health officials in the state say up to 7% of Colorado's population is estimated to have long COVID.

• New Jersey: As state lawmakers begin work on crafting next year’s budget, pressure is growing on Gov. Phil Murphy to give the legislature a say in how any remaining COVID-19 aid money is spent. The state received $6.24 billion through the American Rescue Plan and much of it remains unspent.

• Maryland: With new cases of COVID-19 rising, health officials are urging people to mask up indoors once again. Anne Arundel County Health Officer Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman told WJZ-TV that cases are rising again and that residents should take all precautions.

• Pennsylvania: State health officials have ranked Pennsylvania counties according to their vaccination rates. Montour County has come out on top with a vaccination rate of 76.9%. That’s 12.3% higher than the vaccination rate for the entire state.

• California: The Los Angeles Unified School District has postponed a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for students aged 12 and older from this fall to next year. The move aligns the school district’s policy with the rest of the state.

Airports are crowded once again, and the increase in Americans taking to the sky coincides with a sharp drop in airline customer satisfaction, according to the latest survey by J.D. Power.

After a year in which planes sometimes flew with half their seats empty, aircraft cabins are packed once again. That middle seat that was unoccupied for the better part of 2020 and 2021 has someone in it now.

Michael Taylor, travel intelligence lead at J.D. Power, says customer satisfaction with North American airlines was very high over the last couple of years, but that was mainly because there were fewer people flying.

“Fewer passengers meant more space on airplanes, less waiting in line, and more attention from flight attendants,” Taylor said. “But that business model was simply not sustainable.”

While passengers were fairly content the airlines were losing money. Now planes are full once again and passengers are having to contend with long lines at security checkpoints and crowded aircraft.

Twenty points lower than a year ago

The J.D. Power survey found that overall passenger satisfaction across all three segments – first/business, premium economy, and economy/basic economy – registered just 798 on a 1,000-point scale, more than 20 points lower than a year ago. Passenger satisfaction with cost, flight crews, and aircraft all declined in this year’s study.

The top-rated airlines in J.D. Power’s study are JetBlue Airways, Alaska Airlines, and Delta Air Lines. In the economy/basic economy class, Southwest Airlines ranks highest.

ConsumerAffairs reviewers, however, have a different point of view. Based on thousands of verified reviews over the last 12 months using our 5-star rating system, here’s how our reviewers rate the major airlines:

• American 3.8-stars

• Spirit 3.8-stars

• United  3.7-stars

• Delta  3.7-stars

• Jet Blue 3.6-stars

• Alaska 3.0-stars

• Southwest 1.5-stars

‘Like losing an old friend’

The shocker is Southwest’s 1.5-star rating, which is driven largely by a significant number of 1-star reviews over the last 12 months. Tiffany, of Covina, Calif., describes herself as a longtime Southwest fan. However, she told us that she lost patience after the airline lost her luggage on two flights between December and April.

“Come on SW...live up to the standards you once set,” Tiffany wrote in a ConsumerAffairs review. “It is like losing an old friend.”

Another surprise in our ratings was Spirit Airlines' tie for first place. Stephanie, of Cresent City, Fla., posted a glowing review in January.

“Every time I fly with them they leave and land on time,” Stephanie wrote. “My last flight we were in seats all the way in the back with no window. They got our seats changed in an already full flight. They are always friendly. I’ve yet to have a problem with them. And their fares are always priced right.” 

Fares are rising because of skyrocketing jet fuel prices, and J.D. Power predicts that those increases could keep satisfaction levels low for a while. Even before the latest price spike, overall satisfaction with cost and fees declined in the premium economy segment by 66 points and by 21 points in the first/business class segment.

If you own a car, you almost certainly have an auto insurance policy. You write a check each month and have the peace of mind that, in case of an accident, you’re protected from a major loss.

For the most part, that’s true. But how much do you really know about what your auto insurance covers and what it doesn't? A new survey from Insurify has found that there are at least four major myths about car insurance.

The biggest myth is that everything is covered if you have comprehensive coverage. The survey found that 78% of policyholders believe that to be true.

It’s not. Despite the name, comprehensive coverage doesn’t cover all damage suffered in an accident. In reality, comprehensive coverage covers damage unrelated to a car accident like theft, vandalism, or a tree falling on your car in the driveway.

Bodily injury liability

Bodily injury liability coverage is also poorly understood. Nearly every state requires drivers to have this coverage. In the event of an accident in which the insured driver is at fault, the insurance pays medical bills for those in the other car.

But 52% of people in the survey believe this coverage also pays for their medical bills. It doesn’t. Bodily injury liability will not cover the at-fault driver’s medical expenses if they also get injured.

Maybe you’ve heard that if you drive a flashy vehicle – perhaps red or bright yellow – you are more likely to be pulled over by a police officer for a moving violation. That may or may not be the case, but many people make the assumption that these colors also raise insurance rates.

In fact, 36% of survey respondents said they would expect to pay a higher premium for a brightly colored vehicle. Car color, however, is not a factor used to set rates. Insurance companies establish rates based on a driver’s record, location, and personal profile, as well as their vehicle’s age, make, and model.

Discounts

Finally, there is a widespread belief among auto policyholders that car insurance is basically a “one size fits all” situation. Once an insurance company quotes a rate, 33% of drivers believe there is no way to pay less.

But nearly every insurance provider offers discounts. Safe driver discounts are based on the insured’s driving record. There may be other discounts for not driving many miles or for bundling home and auto insurance.

Katrina, of Newark, N.J., is aware of insurance discounts because she got one, at least temporarily, from State Farm.

“My premium was discounted due to the pandemic,” Katrina wrote in a ConsumerAffairs review. “It increased because the world opened back up. They offer many discounts to assist you with the lowest possible rate.”

A new study conducted by researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) explored the link between consumers’ diets and antibiotic resistance. According to their findings, eating at least eight to 10 grams of soluble fiber each day may be linked with a lower incidence of antibiotic resistance in the gut. 

“...The results lead directly to the idea that modifying the diet has the potential to be a new weapon in the fight against antimicrobial resistance,” said researcher Danielle Lemay. “And we’re not talking about eating some exotic diet either, but a diverse diet, adequate in fiber, that some Americans already eat.” 

How diet affects antibiotic resistance

For the study, the researchers analyzed data from nearly 300 adults enrolled in the USDA Nutritional Phenotyping Study. The participants completed questionnaires about their typical diets, and the researchers performed metagenome sequencing to understand how the participants’ diets were affecting bacteria diversity in their guts. 

The study showed that the participants’ diets had a direct impact on bacterial diversity. For starters, the study showed that diets higher in fiber and lower in protein were linked with the lowest levels of antimicrobial resistant genes (ARG). This also means that these participants had the greatest bacterial diversity in the gut, which ultimately helps fight off antibiotic resistance. 

However, the team found that the opposite was also true – higher levels of ARG were linked with poorer bacterial diversity in the gut. The study suggests that the best gut health outcomes were associated with diets that were high in soluble fibers, like legumes, grains, seeds, and some fruits and vegetables.

“Surprisingly, the most important predictor of low levels of ARG, even more than fiber, was the diversity of the diet,” Lemay said. “This suggests that we may want to eat from diverse sources of foods that tend to be higher in soluble fiber for maximum benefit.

“Our diets provide food for gut microbes. This all suggests that what we eat might be a solution to reduce antimicrobial resistance by modifying the gut microbiome.” 

Though the team plans to do more work in this area, these findings highlight the ways that diet may play an important role in beating antibiotic resistance. 

“In the end, dietary interventions may be useful in lessening the burden of antimicrobial resistance and might ultimately motivate dietary guidelines that will consider how nutrition could reduce the risk of antibiotic-resistant infections,” Lemay said. 

A new study conducted by researchers from the Desert Research Institute explored the potential health risks that outdoor workers face in extreme heat.

According to their findings, working outdoors in extremely high temperatures makes consumers more susceptible to heat stress, heat illnesses, and overall discomfort. 

“We expected to see a correlation between high temperatures and people getting sick – and we found that there was a very clear trend in most cases,” said researcher Erick Bandala, Ph.D. “Surprisingly, this type of analysis hadn’t been done in the past, and there are some really interesting social implications to what we learned.” 

High temperatures affect health outcomes

The researchers focused their study on three of the hottest cities in the U.S. – Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. The team compared the heat indices across the three cities from 2011 through 2018 with workplace injuries and heat-related illnesses. Demographic information was taken into consideration in the study, as was how long the participants had been at their jobs. 

The researchers learned that the heat index in Las Vegas and Phoenix started at “extreme caution” when the study began and had escalated to “danger” by the end of the study. The rising temperatures were linked with an increase in injuries and heat-related illnesses for outdoor workers in these cities.

In 2011, the number of cases of heat-related illnesses and workplace injuries for outdoor workers was below the national average; by 2018, those numbers were well above the national average. 

“Our data indicate that the increases in heat are happening alongside increases in the number of nonfatal occupational injuries across these three states,” said Dr. Bandala. “Every year we are seeing increased heat waves and higher temperatures, and all of the people who work outside in the streets or in gardens or agriculture are exposed to this.” 

Women may be more at risk 

The researchers also identified two important factors that could impact the risk of heat-borne illnesses for outdoor workers – gender and time spent on the job. The study showed that women went from making up as much as 50% of the heat-related illnesses and injuries in 2011 to comprising more than 85% of such illnesses and injuries in 2018. 

Participants who spent more time in their outdoor jobs were also more likely to be negatively affected by the heat. The researchers learned that participants who had spent more than five years in their roles were much more likely to struggle in the heat than those with less than one year under their belts. 

These findings are a cause for concern for all outdoor workers across the country, as these health issues can keep consumers out of work for a month or more. The researchers say more serious health concerns could develop among these workers, including damage to the liver and kidneys, disruptions to the central nervous system, and issues with blood clotting. 

“As temperatures continue to rise and heat-related illnesses and deaths continue to rise, the need for public policies to alleviate health and economic impacts is growing,” Dr. Bandala said. “I hope to continue doing research on this problem so that we can have a better understanding of the impacts of extreme heat and how to help the people who are most vulnerable.”

BMW of North America is recalling 1,029 model year 2022-2023 iX xDrive40s, iX XDrive50s, and iX M60s.

The air bag malfunction indicator light and display message may not illuminate in the event of a problem with the air bag control or pedestrian protection systems. This is due to incorrect software.

An air bag malfunction indicator light that fails to warn the driver of a problem increases the risk of injury in a crash.

What to do

Dealers will reprogram the air bag control unit software free of charge.

Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on June 6, 2022.

Owners may contact BMW customer service at (800) 525-7417.

Amazon.com Services of Seattle, Wash., is recalling about 22,400 AmazonBasics School Classroom Stack Chairs.

The weld on the chair’s frame can fail, posing a fall hazard.

The firm has received 55 consumer reports of the chairs breaking. No injuries have been reported.

This recall involves AmazonBasics School Classroom Stack Chairs made of durable plastic with chrome-plated metal legs.

The products are stackable and were sold as a set of six chairs in pink, lime green, yellow, blue, purple, and/or red.

They measure 17 inches long x 15 inches wide x 26 inches high and are recommended for ages three-to-six years old and for a weight of up to 190 pounds.

The chairs, manufactured in China, were sold online at Amazon.com from January 2019, through January 2022, for between $128 and $190 for a set of six chairs

What to do

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled chairs and contact Amazon for instructions on how to dispose of them for a full refund. Amazon is contacting all known purchasers directly.

Consumers may contact Amazon online or toll-free at (877) 882-0606 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET) Monday through Friday.