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THURSDAY, July 16, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- It's the Holy Grail for containing the spread of coronavirus, but contact tracing only works if it is done quickly, researchers report. The modeling study showed that even if all contacts are successfully traced, a delay of three days or more between the start of symptoms and testing will not reduce transmission of the virus sufficiently to control further spread. The news couldn't come at a worse time, as surging coronavirus cases are swamping labs across the country and triggering delays in test results. To be successful, contact tracing must keep the rate of transmission of the virus below 1, which means the average number of people who will be infected by a single infected person must be less than 1. The researchers compared the...

THURSDAY, July 16, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Dutch researchers have identified a common genetic variant as a cause of deafness, and say it could be a good target for gene therapy. Deafness in adults is known to be inherited but, unlike childhood deafness, the genetic causes aren't clear. To date, 118 genes have been linked to deafness. Variants in these genes explain much of the deafness present at birth and in childhood, but not adult deafness -- even though up to 70% of hearing loss in adults is thought to be inherited. Researchers previously pinpointed the chromosomal region involved in one family's hearing loss, but not the gene involved. To explore this further, they sequenced the genes of this family and 11 others affected by hearing loss -- 200 people in all. A missing...

THURSDAY, July 16, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- If you're a smoker under 50 and you suffer a heart attack, new research suggests kicking the habit may be the best thing you can do to still be around years later. "These results are definitive: among young people who have had a heart attack, quitting smoking is associated with a substantial benefit," said corresponding author Dr. Ron Blankstein, from the division of cardiovascular medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "In cardiology, we are always looking for ways to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, be it in the form of new medications or other interventions," he said in a hospital news release. "Our findings show the dramatic magnitude of the effect that quitting smoking can have for young adults," he added. "But,...

THURSDAY, July 16, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Bats have been blamed as a possible source of the new coronavirus pandemic ravaging the globe. But they might also point to possible ways out of it. Scientists say the winged mammals' immune systems may offer clues on how to fight the new coronavirus and other dangerous viruses in humans. "Humans have two possible strategies if we want to prevent inflammation, live longer and avoid the deadly effects of diseases like COVID-19," explained study lead author Vera Gorbunova, a professor of biology at the University of Rochester in New York. "One would be to not be exposed to any viruses, but that's not practical. The second would be to regulate our immune system more like a bat." Many deadly viruses that affect people are believed to have...