Infectious Diseases

WBFO reported on the continued reopening of Western New York after the pandemic and quoted John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, who said the warm summer weather eases the threat of COVID because people are spending more times outdoors and are getting their vaccines. The story also quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases.
 

Prevention Magazine spoke to Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, about how a 70-year-old man had three tick-borne diseases at once. “It’s relatively uncommon for a tick to have all three diseases,” said Russo. “It’s more common for a tick to have two out of three, and most common for a tick to have one.” The article also appeared in other news outlets.

July 4 was one of the main dates mentioned by several lawmakers for when Americans could expect a “return to normal.” Here in New York, with most restrictions already lifted, we’re ahead of the Independence Day goal, but we are not fully post-COVID-19 just yet. Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, reflects on how far we’ve come as a region, but he still urges caution for individuals who are not vaccinated or those who are only partially vaccinated. “I think we’ve done extraordinarily well here in Western New York. We’ve done well with vaccination. Our cases and hospitalizations right now are at all-time lows, and I think if you’re fully vaccinated, you can celebrate the holiday in close to post-pandemic mode,” says Russo.

Officials from the World Health Organization have recently said that people — including those who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 — should continue to wear face coverings indoors, and Yahoo asks several health experts about face coverings. “People should assess their own situation and make their own decision about wearing masks indoors,” says Timothy F. Murphy, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and director of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. “People who have underlying illnesses may want to consider that a mask will give you an extra layer of protection. At this point, it’s really a judgment call.”

More than 90 countries have launched their COVID-19 vaccination campaigns with shots made by Chinese biotech companies, Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech. However, several countries including Seychelles, Chile, Bahrain and Mongolia are struggling with new outbreaks despite high vaccinate rates. “We have not really seen a lot of good data on the efficacy of these vaccines published in general peer-reviewed literature,” says John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine. Vaccines with a lower efficacy would require vaccinating a higher percentage of the population in order to prevent outbreaks, Sellick suggests. Some countries that have used Sinopharm or Sinovac also tried to reopen too soon. “There are issues of doing too much, too fast, at the same time,” he says.

Even as society returns to normal in the wake of the pandemic, experts say it is a good idea to continue using certain precautions. Keep cleaning “high-touch surfaces” in public settings, says Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. Moreover, wearing face coverings, distancing and sanitizing seemed to render the flu to a near-zero level during the pandemic. “There’s never been a season when I haven’t seen somebody with influenza,” says John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine. “It’s just so crazy. And even tracking a lot of the other viruses, they’re really much less than we would normally expect.” Further, Brahm H. Segal, MD, professor of medicine, notes: “When you get vaccinated, you obviously protect yourself. But you also reduce the likelihood of spread within the community. And if you have friends, family, other people, coworkers who are immunocompromised, then I think your need for altruism goes up even more to look out for them.”

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.”

A report on WGRZ about the coming summer cold season and COVID-19 interviews Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “Dr. Russo says all of the COVID-19 precautions we have gotten used to taking should help us protect ourselves and others from respiratory viruses, and he says we shouldn't let our guard down,” according to the report.  "Since we've now had restrictions lifted in most states in this country,” Russo said, “those measures that protected us not only from COVID, but these other respiratory viruses, are no longer in effect, and therefore, it's likely we're going to see a bump in these non-COVID respiratory infections.”

An editorial in The Buffalo News on celebrating New York State’s 70% vaccination rate quotes Thomas Russo, the chief of infectious diseases at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “The people who haven’t been vaccinated are still at risk,” said Russo, “and the virus will find them.”

An article in Health on the rising incidence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) quotes Timothy Murphy, an infectious disease expert and director of UB’s Community Health Equity Research Institute. "RSV normally is seen in the late fall and wintertime," Murphy said. "It peaks in the winter and reduces dramatically in the springtime. But that didn't happen this year. It may be that RSV levels were low in the winter because of masking and reduced interactions among people - the virus wasn't transmitted as much.” “Now that the COVID-19 vaccine has been used more widely and people are resuming some sense of normalcy, the virus has more opportunity to pass from person to person,” according to the article. "Kids are going back to daycare,” Murphy said. “And families and folks are getting together more-that can cause RSV to spread.” The article was posted on numerous national and regional publications, including MSN.

An article in Verywell Health on CDC’s updates on COVID travel guidance for 120 counties quotes Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “If you’re fully vaccinated, I think international travel is OK,” Russo said. “But one should be a little more cognizant of countries that have variants of concern, like India.” Russo says that “while the consequences for fully vaccinated individuals might not be as bad” as they would be for those who aren't vaccinated, there is still a chance that they can bring the variants back home after traveling, according to the article. “We’re trying to minimize importing those strains,” he says.

A report on Spectrum News about Governor Cuomo’s reporting 70% of adults in New York having received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine quotes Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. "Those individuals that have only gotten one shot, it's critical that they get that second shot,” said Russo. “Some of the variants that are circulating in Western New York and the rest of the state require two shots for optimal protection. For those individuals that are unvaccinated, this is the moment to get vaccinated during the summer months, because as we shift to the fall and the cooler weather months and activities move indoors, the virus spreads quite well. Those that aren't vaccinated … this virus will find you.”

A report on numerous local TV stations including FOX News KFXL in Nebraska, CBS Austin in Texas and ABC 33/40 News in Alabama on COVID-19 infections rising in states where vaccinations have stalled quotes Timothy Murphy, an infectious disease expert and director of UB’s Community Health Equity Research Institute. “What’s happening nationally, really, when you think about it, is quite striking in terms of how effective the vaccines have been,” said Murphy.

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.