Media Coverage

The issue of health disparities in Buffalo and Erie County is an old one. But the question of what to do about it keeps getting new answers. The latest answer is the creation of a new Erie County Office of Health Equity. Erie County fares worse on many state and national averages when it comes to premature deaths, lack of preventative care and childhood poverty among African American residents. U.S. News and World Report gave Erie County an overall community health score of 53 on a 100-point scale. But for health equity, the score dropped to 22, due to the racial gap in pollution exposure and premature deaths. Timothy F. Murphy, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and senior associate dean for clinical and translational research, says only five or six ZIP codes in Buffalo account for much of the bad outcomes for Erie County. Without them, the county’s ranking wouldn't be near the bottom, like it is now, when comes to matters of health equity.

The Buffalo News reported that it was almost two weeks since the last COVID-19 death in WNY despite jumps in infections worldwide due to the more transmissible delta variant. The story quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, who said, “If you want to minimize deaths, keep pushing vaccinations.”

The Buffalo News reported on the improving mortality picture in the region, quoting Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, who noted: “We’ve done a pretty good job vaccinating the most vulnerable. We still have some work to be done.”

A report on meetings between Pfizer and U.S. health officials regarding the need for a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot noted that Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, said that no booster is needed at this time, which is also the position of the CDC and the FDA.

Vijay S. Iyer, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, was interviewed by the Buffalo News regarding COVID protocol in surgery centers. Iyer said protocols in health offices, surgery centers and hospitals may be inconvenient but are necessary during a waning pandemic in which a sizable number of adults remain unvaccinated or have health conditions that limit vaccine effectiveness.

Prevention Magazine interviewed Manoj J. Mammen, MD, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, about two arthritis drugs — tocilizumab and sarilumab — that are being recommended by the World Health Organization for use on critically ill COVID-19 patients. The drugs have worked well on severe cases, but are not as effective on mild COVID cases. “There is less evidence that there is an abundance of interleukin-6 activity with less severe cases of COVID-19, and so it seems less likely it would be helpful,” as the initial inflammatory response would not be as high,” said Mammen. The article was also published in other media outlets.

WKBW interviewed Timothy F. Murphy, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and senior associate dean for clinical and translational research, about the long-range effectiveness of the vaccination shots. It was originally believed that the shots would be effective for six months. Murphy said vaccine data is still being collected and analyzed. “We now know about six months out that they continue to be highly effective,” said Murphy. Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, said we might need a booster if a variant arises where as our initial vaccination does not afford optimal protection.

WBFO reported on the continued reopening of Western New York after the pandemic and quoted John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, who said the warm summer weather eases the threat of COVID because people are spending more times outdoors and are getting their vaccines. The story also quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases.
 

Prevention Magazine spoke to Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, about how a 70-year-old man had three tick-borne diseases at once. “It’s relatively uncommon for a tick to have all three diseases,” said Russo. “It’s more common for a tick to have two out of three, and most common for a tick to have one.” The article also appeared in other news outlets.

July 4 was one of the main dates mentioned by several lawmakers for when Americans could expect a “return to normal.” Here in New York, with most restrictions already lifted, we’re ahead of the Independence Day goal, but we are not fully post-COVID-19 just yet. Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, reflects on how far we’ve come as a region, but he still urges caution for individuals who are not vaccinated or those who are only partially vaccinated. “I think we’ve done extraordinarily well here in Western New York. We’ve done well with vaccination. Our cases and hospitalizations right now are at all-time lows, and I think if you’re fully vaccinated, you can celebrate the holiday in close to post-pandemic mode,” says Russo.

There are many misconceptions about ulcerative colitis (UC). Myths include that UC symptoms start in childhood, that there’s only one cause for UC and that treatment options for UC are limited. “Since UC symptoms are due to a dysregulation of the inflammatory response, the question is what determines that dysregulation,” says Jan M. Novak, MD, emeritus clinical professor of medicine. “We know that the immune system is genetically predetermined and that the people that have inflammatory bowel disease largely inherit a genetic predisposition, which is then modified by their environment.” Currently, however, there isn’t one identifiable gene that causes UC. “This looks different from, say, cystic fibrosis where there is a genetic defect,” says Novak.

Officials from the World Health Organization have recently said that people — including those who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 — should continue to wear face coverings indoors, and Yahoo asks several health experts about face coverings. “People should assess their own situation and make their own decision about wearing masks indoors,” says Timothy F. Murphy, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and director of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. “People who have underlying illnesses may want to consider that a mask will give you an extra layer of protection. At this point, it’s really a judgment call.”

More than 90 countries have launched their COVID-19 vaccination campaigns with shots made by Chinese biotech companies, Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech. However, several countries including Seychelles, Chile, Bahrain and Mongolia are struggling with new outbreaks despite high vaccinate rates. “We have not really seen a lot of good data on the efficacy of these vaccines published in general peer-reviewed literature,” says John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine. Vaccines with a lower efficacy would require vaccinating a higher percentage of the population in order to prevent outbreaks, Sellick suggests. Some countries that have used Sinopharm or Sinovac also tried to reopen too soon. “There are issues of doing too much, too fast, at the same time,” he says.

Even as society returns to normal in the wake of the pandemic, experts say it is a good idea to continue using certain precautions. Keep cleaning “high-touch surfaces” in public settings, says Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. Moreover, wearing face coverings, distancing and sanitizing seemed to render the flu to a near-zero level during the pandemic. “There’s never been a season when I haven’t seen somebody with influenza,” says John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine. “It’s just so crazy. And even tracking a lot of the other viruses, they’re really much less than we would normally expect.” Further, Brahm H. Segal, MD, professor of medicine, notes: “When you get vaccinated, you obviously protect yourself. But you also reduce the likelihood of spread within the community. And if you have friends, family, other people, coworkers who are immunocompromised, then I think your need for altruism goes up even more to look out for them.”

Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy, discussed the COVID-19 delta variant as part of her regular appearance on WBFO-FM. She said the delta variant is “really troubling" and a variant that is “by far the most contagious one yet,” as cases double in numbers.