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WEDNESDAY, April 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- As the pandemic unfolded, nations adopted diverse methods to contain COVID-19. Some sought to eliminate the virus, targeting zero community transmission. Others tried to slow transmission through a mix of intermittent lockdowns, workplace, business and school closings, social distancing, the wearing of face masks, and the cancellation of public gatherings and public transport.Efforts to slow transmission, rather than eliminate the virus, were associated with poorer mental health, according to two new studies published in The Lancet Public Health. "At first sight, it may seem that eliminator countries implemented much harsher strategies than other countries because of their widely reported international travel bans," Lara Aknin, co-author...

WEDNESDAY, April 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Far fewer U.S. women lost health insurance coverage after giving birth during the COVID-19 pandemic than in previous years, likely due to a federal law that prevented Medicaid from dropping people, researchers say. But they noted that the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which was signed into law in March 2020, is set to expire in July 2022."The Coronavirus Response Act was a boon for families in that it allowed postpartum people on Medicaid to hold on to their health insurance," said study co-author Erica Eliason, a postdoctoral researcher at Brown University's School of Public Health."Many people will lose postpartum Medicaid coverage when the public health emergency ends unless states decide to extend Medicaid for a full year...

WEDNESDAY, April 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. cancer survivors under age 65 with medical-related financial struggles have an increased risk of early death, a new study finds."Our findings show the need to address financial hardship to ensure that cancer survivors do not delay or forgo necessary care because they cannot afford it," said lead author Dr. Robin Yabroff. She is scientific vice president of health services research for the American Cancer Society (ACS).For the study, Yabroff and her colleagues analyzed data from more than 25,000 cancer survivors who took part in a nationwide health survey between 1997 and 2014, as well as survey-linked death data through 2015.Nearly all respondents aged 65 and older had health insurance through Medicare, while younger adults were more...

TUESDAY, April 26, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Thanks to the Omicron surge this past winter, 3 in every 5 Americans have now been infected with COVID-19, a new government report shows.Once Omicron surfaced as the predominant variant in this country, the highest infection rates were seen among children and teens, and the upward shift was steep: Only 1 in 3 Americans had been infected with COVID-19 by the time the variant took hold last December, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data found.Since traditional disease surveillance methods do not capture all COVID cases because some people are asymptomatic, not diagnosed or not reported, the scientists analyzed tests that measured antibodies that are produced in response to COVID infection but not in response to COVID...