Media Coverage

Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, is quoted in a story reporting on the CDC’s interim guidance for health care providers on how to treat patients with post-COVID-19 conditions, commonly referred to as “long COVID.” The guidance is “particularly helpful” to let providers know that patients with post-COVID conditions “will have a wide range of symptoms,” Russo said. The guidance stresses that “really, any organ in the body can be affected with this,” he adds.

An article about Jamestown Canyon Virus, the rare, mosquito-borne infection confirmed in New Jersey, quotes Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. “It’s important for people to realize that many people are infected with this virus and either have no symptoms or have very mild, nonspecific symptoms,” Russo says. “Progression of the virus to more severe disease involving the brain probably represents a small fraction of individuals who are infected.”

An article in Yahoo! Life on universities mandating students to have COVID-19 vaccines quotes ohn A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases. “While vaccine mandates are controversial,” according to the article, “doctors say they’re helpful at preventing the spread of disease. “Yes, the vaccine should be mandated,” Sellick said. “This is a group situation and, even though people will say, ‘This is my personal preference,’ you’re potentially putting other people at risk.” The article also appeared on AOL.com.

An article on a link between COVID-19 infections and new cases of diabetes quotes Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. “For a world that's been ravaged by COVID-19 for more than a year now — and since, to date, the virus has infected 175 million people worldwide — this is big news,” according to the article. “Obviously, having COVID is much more than whether you live or die,” says Russo. “People need to think more in terms of the long-term potential health consequences of getting infected. If you get diabetes, that will affect you for the rest of your life.”

Locally and across the country, COVID-19 infection rates are dwindling. It is welcome news, but health officials remain concerned about the spread of the Delta variant that has emerged from India. The variant is widespread in the United Kingdom, says Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy. “It is already responsible for six percent of the cases in the U.S.,” says Nielsen. “It’s spreading primarily among younger people. It is highly transmissible,” says Nielsen, adding that current vaccines are effective against the Delta variant. “So, the key is to get vaccinated,” she says.

Niagara Frontier Publications and New York Patch reported on the Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s downloadable infographic that makes COVID-19 vaccine information available in 15 languages. “An important underlying reason for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is lack of access to reliable information about the vaccines,” said Timothy Murphy, SUNY Distinguished Professor and director of the UB Community Health Equity Research Institute. “Reaching community members who speak languages other than English with clear, understandable and reliable information will be enormously valuable in addressing vaccine hesitancy.”

Your gut affects your entire cardiovascular system in ways we’re learning more about every day, says Andrew H. Talal, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. The digestive tract itself is home to over 100 trillion microorganisms (known as the gut microbiome). Most of that bacteria is healthy, but when your balance of good and bad bacteria is off, you can experience a build-up of cholesterol in your bloodstream, Talal says.

Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, is quoted in an article about babesiosis, the rare tick-borne illness that attacks red blood cells. Russo says the diseases occurs in “parts of our country where one would contract Lyme disease. He notes, however, that babesiosis is much less common.

Yahoo! News reports about questions people may have regarding vaccine passports. Digital passports “incrementally add to the public health and safety,” says Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced New York has the lowest COVID-19 positivity rate in the nation. “Well, we are doing extraordinarily well, because we have an increasing number of people who have been vaccinated and largely we have shifted to outdoor activities where the virus doesn't spread particularly well,” said Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases.

A story notes Chinese officials have reported what is thought to be the first human case of the H10N3 strain of bird flu in the world. The virus infected a 41-year-old man who was hospitalized on April 28. If any type of bird flu happened to start spreading among people, John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, says that scientists “would be able to make a vaccine pretty quickly” by modifying an existing flu vaccine, but he cautions that “nothing is ever absolute.”

Yahoo! News quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, in an article on how to remain safe from COVID-19 on cruise ships. “I think it’s safe to go on a cruise right now if everyone is vaccinated and if the cruise ship puts all the appropriate public health measures in place,” said Russo. “The fly in the ointment is shore excursions on the cruises. You’re going to get out and interact with people who are not vaccinated, so you should still bring masks.”

WGRZ-TV interviewed Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, for an article on the difference between being vaccinated against COVID-19 and having COVID-19 antibodies. “There’s no question that the optimal immunity is achieved with vaccination,” said Russo. “And in fact, the absolute best immunity is achieved if you’ve been previously infected and then vaccinated, it’s like a boost to supercharge antibody response, so we strongly recommend individuals that have been previously infected to go ahead and get vaccinated as well, and that will afford the maximum degree of protection moving forward.”

WKBW quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, in an article on a study from Washington University in St. Louis that found people who experienced mild illness from COVID-19 developed long-lasting antibody protection. Russo says the study is encouraging, but adds getting vaccinated will provide the ultimate degree of protection. “The key thing to follow is whether these individuals eventually get re-infected, particularly from some of the variants that are circulating at this time. And presently we just don’t know,” he said.

Research is ongoing, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says those who are immunocompromised may still need to take extra precautions, even after vaccination. In general, people who are immunocompromised may not respond to vaccines as well as those who aren’t immunocompromised, says John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases. “We knew this was going to be a problem with the COVID-19 vaccine all along,” he says. It’s unclear at this point what will be done to make the COVID-19 vaccines more effective in people who are immunocompromised. “Maybe we’ll do what we do with dialysis patients and give booster doses,” Sellick says. “We also have high-dose vaccines for influenza that give you more antibodies — a higher dose could be a possibility for COVID-19.”