Infectious Diseases

The Washington Post quoted John Sellick, professor of medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, in a story reporting that a coronavirus variant discovered in Colombia is showing up among patients in South Florida, increasing infections and putting health officials on alert. In the United States, the variant has yet to be named a variant of interest or concern, accounting for just more than 2.1 percent of cases as of July 17, Sellick noted. “The only time it becomes important is if it gives virus selective advantage, which we’ve seen with delta variant,” he said. “We’ll see with this one. … What we have to see is two weeks from now, or four weeks from now, is this going to do another trick and wind up being more?” Sellick noted how quickly the delta variant went from accounting for just more than 10 percent of cases at the beginning of June to more than 80 percent of cases by mid-July.

A Sinclair Broadcast Group story reporting that the CDC’s new mask guidance has spurred resistance and confusion amid a surge of COVID-19 cases quotes Timothy Murphy, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The guidance appears to be an appropriate response to evidence that vaccinated people might be able to spread the virus, Murphy said. Given the confusion and frustration that greeted the announcement, he suggested the CDC could have communicated it better, but the policy reflects the science. “It’s the reality of the pandemic,” Murphy said. “The pandemic keeps changing.” The story was published on dozens of television news sites around the country.

John Sellick was interviewed for a Spectrum News story explaining the CDC’s new masking guidelines. Sellick noted that even if people are vaccinated, they can still carry and spread COVID-19. “The CDC considers 50 cases for 100,000 population to be at the point at which we’re considered to be a great risk,” he said. “We are still well below that. Our percent positivity is around 2%, so the numbers locally remain quite favorable, but we have to keep an eye on them.”

Prevention reported on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s voluntary recall of several popular brands of carrots due to salmonella concerns and quoted Thomas Russo, professor and chief of infectious diseases at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “The carrots could be contaminated at multiple spots, but probably the most likely scenario would be some combination of contaminated ground water or fertilizer when they’re in the ground,” he said.

The Buffalo News quoted UB infectious disease expert Thomas Russo in a story on Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz’ public update on COVID-19, during which Poloncarz reported that the region’s seven-day positivity rate has creeped up to over 2%. Still, Russo said it’s not all bad news. “We’re doing pretty well in Western New York,” he said, while noting that the delta variant is to blame for the increase in cases. “It’s crashed our party here in Western New York,” Russo said.

WKBW-TV interviewed Thomas Russo for a story on when the COVID-19 vaccines are likely to receive full approval from the Food and Drug Administration. “People should be reassured that the approval in this country for a drug or a vaccine is the most rigorous in the world,” Russo said, adding that full licensing from the FDA requires six months of safety data. “For the people on the fence waiting for full licensing, hopefully this will move them to wanting to get the vaccine,” Russo said. “However, I think the delta variant is being a good inspiration as well.”

In Western New York on July 14, the seven-day average for COVID-19 cases was 25. That’s more than four times higher than the lowest figure from early June – but it is significantly less than last summer’s lowest numbers, which hovered around 40 for a seven-day average. “We’re going to have a reasonable summer,” says Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. “Last summer was really pretty good, and we had no vaccination and a small proportion had been naturally infected. … We had a lot more cases than we’re having now.” Russo noted, too, that hospitalization and death numbers locally are at all-time lows, and nearly two-thirds of eligible Erie County residents are fully vaccinated.

Breakthrough COVID-19 infections are being reported across the country, but Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, says vaccinated Western New Yorkers should not be too concerned. “I think the people in Western New York that should be nervous are the unvaccinated,” Russo says. “If you’re unvaccinated, the delta variant is highly infectious, and it will find you.” A new study that has not been peer reviewed yet shows the Johnson and Johnson vaccine may be less effective against the delta variant compared to the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. “The J&J may be more imperfect than the other vaccines,” Russo says. “We will have to see how that plays out. I think the J&J will keep us out of hospitals, and that’s the most important thing.”

New York’s COVID-19 cases and percentage of people testing positive have risen over the past month. Data from the state and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows roughly 56 percent of all New Yorkers have been vaccinated. The CDC says the more infectious delta variant of the virus now accounts for 83 percent of new cases in the United States. John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, says it is a worry, but there are some positives to take away. “If you’re completely vaccinated, you have protection against this, especially with the mRNA vaccines,” he says. “The problem is for the people who have not been vaccinated. The vast majority of the high caseload states are states with low vaccination rates. It’s a real lesson for us. The more people we get vaccinated, the better we’re going to be, [the] delta [variant] or not.”

Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, says: “If you think you’re safe from the coronavirus just because you’re outdoors, think again. While the wind and the large volume of air make the outdoors less risky than being indoors, circumstances matter.” He says someone who is infectious “can cough or sneeze, or just talk and, if you happen to inhale those respiratory droplets or they plop into your eye, you can get infected”. He advises that, depending on where you are, “maximize the distance between yourself and others.”

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.

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.