Infectious Diseases

Evergreen Health is now offering to its HIV patients a new, monthly injectable medication called Cabenuva and Alyssa S. Shon, MD, clinical assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and a physician with Evergreen Health, helped lead the clinical trials now underway at UB and elsewhere that led to its approval. “We are excited to introduce a monthly injectable medication to treat HIV, the very first of its kind and a method for treatment that eliminates the need for patients to take daily pills, which has been the standard for HIV care for decades.”

A report on variants of the coronavirus emerging globally quoted Timothy F. Murphy, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and director of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute, who said: “The virus can’t mutate if it’s not multiplying. So, if we can get the virus down to very low levels... not only does that prevent illness and death, but it also prevents the spread of variants.”

A story reporting that nearly half of all New Yorkers have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and quotes Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy, who said, “I really think by mid-summer we’re going to be in a much better place, assuming that people continue to want to get vaccinated.” The story also quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, who said, “Outdoors we are already seeing easing. I anticipate further easing as cases drop. I suspect in a month or six weeks, if you’re fully vaccinated, you probably won't have to wear a mask outdoors.”

Spectrum News interviews Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, about herd immunity, reopening and vaccines. “I think that we are ready to start to reopen things as long as we do it safely," Russo says. “We know that vaccination affords a significant degree of protection for those individuals, and if you’re unvaccinated, distancing and mask use are very effective. So, if we apply those simple rules, and institute them in indoor activities and even selected outdoor activities, distancing and capacity restrictions, I think we can do this safely.”

Mashable quotes Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, in a story that debunks myths bout the COVID-19 vaccine. Russo emphasized that, “Vaccination is the way out of this. It's going to drive cases down, keep people out of the hospital, and minimize deaths.”

Verywell Health interviewed Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, in a story about cruises, which could restart in mid-July under strict regulations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a recent letter to the cruise industry that it will allow cruise companies to skip testing passengers and staff if they can vow that 98 percent of the crew and 95 percent of passengers are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Verywell Health reported. “I don’t get the 98 percent of crew and 95 percent of passengers,” Russo says. “Why not just do 100 percent of crew and 100 percent of passengers? That seems to be, by far, the safest thing to do.”

Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, was interviewed about states setting reopening plans. “Cases are coming down,” Russo says. “But I would like to see the numbers get down even more before we get to a wide reopening, and continue vaccination of individuals.” If you’re fully vaccinated, Russo says you “can take a deep breath and know you can start getting back to a pre-COVID life.”

Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, was interviewed about vaccination clinics targeting teens. “It's important to vaccinate as many people as possible, but its more important to vaccinate our 16- and- 17-year-olds because there’s been an increasing number of cases in the teenage age group,” he says.

A report on WKBW-TV on efforts to ensure the youngest people eligible receive their COVID-19 vaccines quotes Thomas Russo, professor and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, “This age group is a priority because many of them are unvaccinated as of this time. We know that there's an increasing number of cases in this age group because they're unvaccinated. And it's critically important to get them vaccinated to both protect themselves from this unpredictable virus, and if they're vaccinated, that will result in them being significantly less likely to others that are unprotected such as their parents, grandparents, and other loved ones.”

An report on WGRZ about whether New York could fully reopen by July 1 quoted John Sellick, an infectious disease expert and professor of medicine at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Sellick didn't offer specifics in response to the July 1 plan, but he did stress that vaccines are the way out of this,” according to the article. “The more people we get vaccinated, the more we're going to be able to do, whether it's in New York City or in Buffalo, so we have to keep our eye on that ball and continue to get our vaccination numbers going up," Sellick said. Also quoted in the story was Thomas Russo, professor and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Jacobs School. "I think July is a realistic goal in terms of when we could be back to normal,” Russo said.

An article in Prevention on new CDC mask guidelines for those vaccinated from COVID-19 quotes Timothy Murphy, SUNY Distinguished Professor and senior associate dean for clinical and translational research at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “They tried to emphasize in their guidance the new things that people who are vaccinated will be able to do in contrast to the people who aren’t vaccinated, but they got a little too much in the weeds,” says Murphy. The article was also carried in Yahoo! Life, MSN Canada, among numerous other publications.

An article from Men’s Health reprinted in MSN Lifestyle on how people are not fully immune from COVID-19 immediately after their final dose of the vaccine quotes Thomas Russo, professor and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “If you want to be really safe after getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, you’ll wait four weeks to consider yourself fully vaccinated,” Russo said according to the article. “In other words, you reach peak immunity 29 days after the vaccine,” he said. “I tell patients that they should wait at least four weeks [to see people without a mask] at this point.”

An article in Prevention about whether the COVID-19 vaccines can make people sick if they have cold-like symptoms quotes John Sellick, an infectious disease expert and professor of medicine at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “If there’s a chance that you have COVID-19, it’s best to get tested before heading to your vaccine appointment,” according to the article. “We don’t want you coming in and infecting other people,” says Sellick. “In general, though, Dr. Sellick says it’s really best to put off your vaccine appointment if you have cold-like symptoms—just don’t forget to reschedule your appointment.”

An article from Verywell Health on whether houseflies can carry COVID-19 quotes John Sellick, an infectious disease expert and professor of medicine at the Jacobs School, who said there is minimal risk from houseflies. “We went through this with HIV and Ebola,” Sellick says. “Just because you can show in a laboratory setting that you can get a mosquito or fly to have a virus after feeding on something doesn’t mean the virus spreads that way.”

An article on Yahoo! News about experts urging people to get COVID vaccines despite the drop in demand quotes John Sellick, an infectious disease expert and professor of medicine at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Sellick said it's "unfortunate" more people haven't been fully vaccinated, according to the article. "We're always concerned about the usual pandemic fatigue but now as the weather is getting nice, people are starting to say that the pandemic is over or that they just don't care anymore," Sellick says. "We don't know what the magic number is to reach herd immunity, but it's certainly more than what it is right now. We've got a ways to go, no matter what."