Infectious Diseases

Prevention reports on whether dizziness and vertigo are symptoms of COVID-19. While simply feeling dizzy doesn’t automatically mean you have COVID-19, especially if you have no other symptoms, it’s worth talking to your doctor if the feeling persists or you start experiencing a loss of balance, says John Sellick, DO, professor of medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “We see dizziness with many other infections and illnesses,” he says. “But since there’s so much COVID-19 circulating, it may be worth exploring.”

MSN quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, for a story about Paxlovid, the anti-viral COVID-19 medication that tends to leave a “bitter, metallic” taste in your mouth. The other side effects of the medication “have been relatively minor and transient," Russo was quoted as saying.

MSN, Yahoo! and Prevention quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, for a story about what to know about the BA.2.12.1 Omicron subvariant of COVID-19. People who should be most concerned about its spread are those considered at high risk for serious complications for COVID. “Get your booster shot, if you’re eligible,” Russo said. “And if you’re considered high risk, be careful. Few people are wearing face masks right now. You should consider masking up to protect yourself while we have a large community burden of disease.”

MSN and Yahoo! quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, in a story about 100 million new COVID-19 infections are estimated for the U.S. this fall and winter. “This virus is unfortunately a keeper,” Russo said. “It’s going to be minimally like flu where we see intermittent surges and winter respiratory virus season is an unquestionable time when we’re going to see a surge.”

The Buffalo News quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, about Gov. Kathy Hochul testing positive for COVID-19.  “The best we know is she's healthy and vaxxed to the max, so I fully expect her to have an uneventful recovery,” Russo said. In addition, WIVB-TV talked with Russo about COVID hotspots in New York.

Health magazine quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, on why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration restricted Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine to only a select group of people. "We've always recommended that, if you initially go with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, you're better off getting the Moderna or Pfizer booster shot," Russo said. "While the risks of TTS [a rare and potentially fatal blood-clotting condition] after the J&J vaccine are low, they're not zero and we have other options."

SELF magazine reports on the latest outbreak of bird flu and quotes Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, who said: “Bird flu mainly infects and spreads within bird populations, but occasionally it can spread to other species, as well—including humans.”

WKBW reported that therapies are available for vulnerable Erie County residents who get COVID-19. The story quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, who cautioned that the drugs are not appropriate for those who are pregnant or thinking of getting pregnant.

VeryWell Health interviewed Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, in an article about the success of sabizabulin, a drug that has the potential to half the risk of death for people with moderate and severe forms of COVID-19. Sabizabulin helps tamp down on an important part of the virus replicating in the body. “When the virus enters the cell, a variety of steps need to occur,” said Russo. “One of those is that it needs to move within the cell from one compartment to the other. This drug interferes with the process.”

Parade Magazine interviewed Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, about the longevity of COVID-19 home test kits. Some at-home COVID tests have had their expiration or “use by” date extended after they were put on the market, so if someone has an expired at-home test, it’s a good idea to Google it before throwing it out to make sure it’s truly expired. “My understanding of the at-home rapid tests is that what [the U.S. Food and Drug Administration] wanted was ‘real-time data for stability,’” Dr. Russo says. He explains that this is a prediction of how stable the tests are and will be; info to be assessed and updated in the future based on performance over time. 

A Prevention article about a judge ending the federal travel mask mandates quotes Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. Russo says the move marks a big change. “We’re entering this stage of the pandemic of personal responsibility,” he says. “Those individuals that are at a bigger risk of getting infected may still decide to mask up.” The article also appeared on Yahoo! News.

Health Magazine interviewed Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, about the FDA authorizing the first breath test to detect COVID-19. The breathalyzer can give results in just three minutes. "People can be screened soon after they arrive at the doctor's office," said Russo. "And if someone tests positive, they probably should not be in the office where they can infect others or should at least be wearing a mask." A rapid test like this could also encourage people to take their symptoms more seriously and actually quarantine while they wait for their official test results instead of going about their normal lives where they could expose others, according to Russo. The article also appeared on MSN.

Prevention quotes Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, in a story titled, "Is COVID-19 Endemic Yet? Infectious Disease Experts Aren’t So Sure." “SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is not going away,” Russo says. He says we’re “transitioning” from pandemic to endemic status but aren’t there yet. “Right now across the country, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 are down,” he says. “There are local outbreaks in some areas and others are quiet.” The rise of the BA.2 variant has caused cases to jump again in some areas, which has slowed the transition to endemic status and caused some uncertainty about where things are headed, Russo says. Yahoo! News and MSN also carried the story.

WKBW-TV interviews Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, in a story on increasing COVID-19 cases in Erie County. "It's due to the combination of looser restrictions, the highly infectious Omicron sub-variants that are circulating, and people gathering, doing social catch-up indoors with this cooler weather where the virus spreads so readily," Russo said.

Yahoo! News interviews Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, in a story titled, "The Way You Handle Your Pet’s Food Could Make You Sick." Russo stresses that the biggest risk of getting sick from dog food is from raw pet food. “The risk with that is much greater than with dry dog food,” he says. “You need to be much more careful in washing your hands with this.” However, he says, “there’s no question that other commercially-prepared food can be contaminated as well.” Prevention and other outlets also carried the story.