Infectious Diseases

Sinclair Broadcasting Group ran an article on existing booster shots offering protection against Omicron that quotes Timothy Murphy, senior associate dean for clinical and translational research in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “I think an important message is these are very, very preliminary with small numbers...,” said Murphy of the studies. “The encouraging part is, with boosters, it seems like that raises the level of protectiveness in the laboratory.” The story ran in dozens of regional outlets nationwide, including ABC St. Louis and FOX11 News of Wisconsin.

Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences is quoted in Shape magazine about Pfizer’s booster helps protect against Omicron. “Early data suggests that Omicron is more infectious than previous strains, according to the WHO. It also has several mutations in its spike protein, which is the part of the virus that's used to latch onto your cells,” says Russo. The article appeared on Yahoo! News, among other outlets.

WKBW, which reported on the Town of Marilla challenging Erie County’s mask mandate "Masks unequivocally work, if properly used," said Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

An article in Prevention about chronic fatigue quotes Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, on people being tired from post-COVID or “long COVID” symptoms. “There are a lot of different potential symptoms you can experience if you have long COVID, but tiredness and fatigue are common,” says Russo. “It can be incredibly disruptive. Some people aren’t able to make it through the day without taking a nap. That can be difficult to navigate if you need to be at work or school during that time.” The article was posted on Yahoo! Life and elsewhere.

Health quoted Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, in an article about a U.S. cruise ship leaving from New Orleans, whose passengers developed COVID-19 despite being vaccinated. "Even if everyone is fully vaccinated, the vaccines are not perfect," he said, noting that he personally now considers "fully vaccinated" to mean having three doses of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine and two doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the article. The story also appeared in MSN.

An article in The New York Times quotes Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, in a story on upstate New York hospitals being overwhelmed by surges of COVID. “It’s hard to ignore what’s going on with cases, but the social resolve of the population to continue the good fight with mitigation measures is a bit broken,” said Russo.

Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, was quoted in Yahoo! Life in a story about school districts extending winter breaks because of staffing. "Schools are going to have continued issues at least between now and January," Russo said. "I expect we're going to have a significant community burden of disease, independent of what happens with Omicron. With Delta, we still have our hands full."

Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, was quoted in a story by Sinclair Broadcasting on President Biden’s new COVID-19 strategy. He expects vaccines and booster shots will offer reliable protection against severe illness from the omicron variant, even if defense against mild infection declines. “At the end of the day, that’s the most important thing,” Russo said. The article was widely reported by affiliates, including FOX11 News and KOMO News.

Verywell Health quoted Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, in a story reporting that more than 1 million Americans may have lost their sense of smell due to COVID-19. “Everyone has been looking at COVID in terms of whether you live or die, and there’s a lot more to it than that,” he said. “Individuals that have symptoms post-COVID can have them dramatically impact their lifestyle and activities of daily living.”

WGRZ-TV quoted Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, in a story on a new requirement by the Biden administration that health insurers cover the cost of at-home COVID-19 testing. “Testing is a critically important tool for us to minimize the number of new infections,” he said.

Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences lent commentary in an article from The National Desk about President Biden’s plan to slow down COVID-19. Biden is going to be sending out 500 million home test kits to U.S. residents in the upcoming weeks. “I think it is going to help,” Russo said. “Having access to home testing kits has the potential to decrease the number of cases and break the transmission chain. Of course, this assumes that individuals test promptly when they develop symptoms and if the test is positive, they go ahead and isolate.” The article appeared on the websites of more than 100 daily newspapers.

Yahoo! News quotes Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Jacobs School, in an article on the deadlock between Chicago Public Schools and its teachers over whether to conduct in-person or remote learning. "In-person learning is critical for our students for many reasons and can be safe if a high-quality mitigation plan is designed and executed," says Russo. "The most important interventions include maximizing vaccination of students, staff and teachers, mandatory use of high-quality, well-fitting masks, and optimizing ventilation."

AOL.com’s article on what parents need to know as children return to school amid the COVID-19 surge quotes Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Jacobs School. The article first appeared in Yahoo! News.

Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, joined The National Desk Tuesday night to talk about what makes the omicron strain such an apparent threat. “Two things: First, the rapidly increasing cases in South Africa. Delta was the dominant variant. That [Omicron] was able to out-compete Delta to other variants able to do that,” Russo said. “Second, examination of the sequence supports that this particular variant may be more transmissible, and further, perhaps of further concern, some of the mutations suggest that it may be resistant to immunity acquired for prior infection, vaccination, and protection that individuals can receive with treatment.” The story aired on affiliate stations nationwide.

Prevention quoted Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, in a story on what travelers should know this holiday season. Russo stresses the importance of being fully vaccinated before traveling, especially internationally. “If you test positive for COVID before flying home, you’ll be in an isolation situation for 10 days,” he says. “The likelihood of you testing positive is much higher if you’re unvaccinated or haven’t gotten your booster.”