Infectious Diseases

Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, was interviewed by The Buffalo News in a story titled, "How likely are you to run into Covid at a party?" There are nuances in any calculation, but “It’s pretty likely right now,” Russo said.

Prevention discusses the symptoms of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 with Thomas Russo, professor and chief of infectious diseases in the Department of Medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “I haven't heard a lot on people losing their sense of taste and smell with Omicron, but I’m willing to bet that this variant can do that, cause shortness of breath, and all of the other symptoms of COVID-19, particularly in the unvaccinated,” Russo says. “We just don’t have a lot of data yet.” He says he’s concerned about talk of Omicron being a mild infection, when the majority of cases have been in people who are vaccinated or younger. “I’m really worried about people becoming complacent,” he says. “If Omicron ends up causing more infections, it will likely cause more damage. We could be setting ourselves up for a bad situation.”

Health.com quoted Thomas Russo, chief of infectious diseases in the Department of Medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, in a story about the Pfizer pill, which is not yet authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. A COVID pill is an antiviral medication that can help lower the risk of severe COVID-19 in people who catch the virus, Russo explained. He compares the COVID pill to Tamiflu, an antiviral medication that's designed to help lower the risk of severe illness in people who contract the flu.

In a story in Spectrum News, Thomas Russo, professor and chief of infectious diseases in the Department of Medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, urged people to report their positive over-the-counter COVID-19 test results. “Home tests can be very helpful when there are family or social gatherings, and if someone is not optimally protected via vaccination or a booster,” Russo said. “If it’s positive, many individuals are not reporting or do not realize that that positive result should be reported. And as a result, probably cases that are diagnosed with a home test are being underreported at this time.”

Prevention quoted Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, in a story about Omicron, the COVID-19 variant the World Health Organization has labeled a variant of concern. “The reason people are paying attention to this variant is there are concerns that it may possess properties that may be problematic,” Russo said. “South Africa, like the rest of the world, is dominated by Delta cases. Omicron could potentially outcompete Delta, which none of the other variants have been able to do.” Yahoo! and MSN.com also carried the story.

The Buffalo News quoted the Jacobs School’s John Sellick and Thomas Russo in a story on how to avoid giving or getting COVID-19 while getting together with loved ones this holiday season. A group with more varied levels of immunity can still gather with a reasonable degree of safety if you add in proactive measures like testing and preventative strategies such as opening windows or using an air filtration system, and masking when people are close, vulnerable or both. “Some combination of vaccination, testing, trying to optimize ventilation, and to protect the vulnerable is the best strategy,” Russo said. Some strategies are smart on a scientific level but may be difficult on a social one. At a dinner party, for example, you could spread out or separate unvaccinated people to minimize risk. “If that was my family, the answer would be, ‘Sorry, but you’re not invited,’ ” Sellick said. “That’s all there is to it. Which I know is hard.”

Shape Magazine, Yahoo!life, and MSN quoted Thomas Russo, professor and chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School, about confusion surrounding COVID-19 vaccination booster shots. “I get asked all the time who is eligible,” he said. “With this, six months out if you’ve had the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, and two months out if you’ve had Johnson & Johnson, all adults will be able to get one.”

Prevention in a story on possible side effects of booster shots for COVID-19. “As a general rule, people feel similar to how they felt after they got their second shot,” says Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The article ran in Yahoo! Life and MSN.com.

Prevention magazine published a story about new flu vaccines and quoted Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “The flu vaccine process begins with a group of researchers analyzing the data, trying to determine which strain of flu will be the most predominant in the next flu season at least six months ago,” Russo said.

Health magazine published a story about the HIV preventative medication pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) quoting Seth Glassman, an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. "For primary care doctors who don't deal with a lot of HIV or deal with people with high-risk lifestyles, having the CDC give the green light and say that this is an expected and routine part of your care potentially gives license to providers who otherwise might not have had this conversation," said  Glassman, an infectious disease expert who focuses on HIV.

An article in Prevention on the effectiveness of a plant-based COVID-19 vaccine quotes Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Russo called the news “exciting.” He added: “Is it going to take center stage for COVID vaccines? Not yet. But it may prove to be an important alternative platform in the future.” The story was published on MSN.

A widely reprinted article in Yahoo! Life on how to handle holiday gatherings amid COVID-19 quotes Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. "The first thing everyone needs to do is assess the relative risks and benefits of a gathering, and the risks are largely going to be about the vulnerable people attending — those who are elderly and immunocompromised," says Russo.

Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences was quoted in another widely circulated Prevention article on how deadly the new COVID-19 variant Omicron is. Many of those mutations are in the spike protein, which is what helps the virus latch onto your cells, Russo said. “Because of this, it may infect people more easily than other variants,” he says.

Prevention magazine published a story about new flu vaccines and quoted Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “The flu vaccine process begins with a group of researchers analyzing the data, trying to determine which strain of flu will be the most predominant in the next flu season at least six months ago,” Russo said. The story was widely reprinted in outlets including WBPF in Florida.

Health magazine published a story about the HIV preventative medication pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) quoting Seth Glassman, an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. "For primary care doctors who don't deal with a lot of HIV or deal with people with high-risk lifestyles, having the CDC give the green light and say that this is an expected and routine part of your care potentially gives license to providers who otherwise might not have had this conversation," said  Glassman, an infectious disease expert who focuses on HIV.