Many Americans' concern over COVID-19 has dwindled amid access to vaccines and other life-saving therapeutics, but the nation is still grappling with serious health issues exacerbated by the pandemic, The Wall Street Journal reported July 31.
Increased isolation, missed screenings and disrupted public health activities have caused many of the nation's most pressing health issues to worsen since 2020.
Here are eight such issues:
1. Heart disease and stroke deaths increased rapidly amid the pandemic.
2. Fatal drug overdoses are at record levels in the U.S.
3. The number of Americans reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression has increased since 2020.
4. The nation's gun homicide rate increased by nearly 35 percent from 2019 to 2020, according to the CDC.
5. Drug-resistant infections are rising in hospital settings.
6. Rates of gonorrhea and syphilis jumped in 2020 after falling early in the pandemic.
7. Cancer screenings fell during the pandemic, which experts say is leading to more late-stage diagnoses.
8. Rates of routine childhood vaccinations decreased during the pandemic.
"In addition to just the terrible burden of a million Americans dying, there are other repercussions from the pandemic that we need to address," Chrissie Juliano, executive director of Big Cities Health Coalition, which represents city health officials, told the Journal.
Read the full article here.