Infectious Diseases

McClatchy’s Washington Bureau quotes Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, in a story titled, “Most in U.S. say they’d go back to wearing masks if covid cases rise again.” The article was carried by newspapers nationwide. Russo comments on the BA.2 subvariant of COVID-19: “All in all, I think we’re really gonna be okay and I don’t think BA.2 is gonna be problematic like omicron,” he said.

Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Jacobs School, was quoted in two articles in The Buffalo News. One centered on St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and the other pondered what is the new normal after two years of the pandemic. “We haven’t bottomed out yet,” with COVID-19, he said. “But we’re certainly getting close there.”

The Washington Examiner, among other outlets, quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Jacobs School, in a story about how infectious disease experts are watching an omicron subvariant, BA.2., which has been circulating in New York City at a time virus-related safety measures have been lifted. “At this point, there’s no grounds for panic, though we need to keep an eye on it,” Russo said.

A new COVID-19 variant called “deltacron” is popping up in Europe and the U.S., Health reports. It likely resulted from one person being infected with two strains of COVID-19 at the same time, said Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Jacobs School. "Both viruses would need to be in their body at the same time," he said.

Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Jacobs School was quoted in a Yahoo! News story on a CDC study, which found that masking works in schools — just as mandates lift across the country. "We will likely see a bump in cases with the lifting of mask mandates, while there is still COVID out there," he said. He doesn't anticipate, though, that it will be a large one.

MSN and Yahoo! quoted 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, for a story about how to tell the difference between allergies and COVID-19. The symptoms can overlap, Russo said. “At the end of the day, people really won’t know for sure unless they take a test,” Russo said.

Multiple outlets, including the Kansas City Star,The Raleigh News & Observer and The Miami Herald, published a story that quoted 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, about whether the rise in cases of the “stealth” omicron subvariant, BA.2, should be cause for concern. “All in all, I think we’re really gonna be okay and I don’t think BA.2 is gonna be problematic like omicron,” he said. Russo also was quoted in three other COVID-related stories, including:

The Miami Herald quoted 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, for a story about those who may want to continue masking despite the lifting of mask mandates. Russo advises that some individuals “should strongly consider wearing masks,” including those who are unvaccinated and immunocompromised. “Behavior should be dictated not only by what you feel is best for you, but what’s best for others,” Russo said. The story was picked up by multiple outlets.

Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Jacobs School, was featured in Prevention magazine providing guidance on the difference between N95 and KN95 masks.

Health.com quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, in an article on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidance that contact tracing is no longer universally recommended to track and contain COVID-19. Instead, the agency only recommends contact tracing for high-risk settings and groups. Russo explained that during the pandemic, contact tracers struggled to keep up with informing the public of potential exposure to the virus because of how quickly COVID-19 spreads. “Most public health offices were overwhelmed,” said Russo. “Contact tracing almost needs to be done in real time to be effective. Meaning, when you find out you have a positive test, you want individuals that were potentially exposed to be notified right away to quarantine and get tested. That didn't happen.”

Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, was quoted in Verywell Health in an article on a study that found inflammation cleared up faster in COVID-19 patients who took heartburn medication. The patients also reported that symptoms such as chest congestion, cough and abdominal pain, improved sooner. Russo, who was not involved in the study, said, “It’s over-the-counter, so everyone can pick it up. But we don’t have unequivocal evidence at this point that it’s going to be necessary.”

Prevention quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, in an article on a study that found COVID-19 doesn’t infect the nerve cells in the body that detect smell — instead, it attacks other cells that line the nasal cavity. The infection causes inflammation that prevent the nerve cells from displaying olfactory receptors, which are responsible for detecting odors. “While we’ve known that you can lose your sense of taste and smell with other viruses, the mechanism has never really been sorted out,” said Russo. “We’ve always assumed that if you have some sort of cold and you have sinus congestion, everyone to some degree will lose their sense of taste and smell.”

Agence France Presse reported on the false claims on social media that hydroxychloroquine can be made from grapefruits and lemons and can cure COVID-19. The story quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, who said: "Hydroxychloroquine is not a proven COVID-19 treatment. There is a huge body of data that shows it doesn’t work.” Russo warned that following the recipe outlined in the social media video would be “ill-advised.”

Times of India quoted 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 COVID tongue, a symptom that involves swelling on the surface of the tongue. Russo explains that there are several reasons why the symptom may be missed in patients. “Many physicians focus on the heart, lungs, and abdomen and, in the age of COVID-19, they pass on examining the mouth even more because it can increase their risk of getting infected,” he said.

Health.com quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, in an article on CDC guidelines that suggest waiting eight weeks between COVID-19 vaccinations may lower the risk of myocarditis, a rare heart-related side effect. Despite the slight risk of myocarditis, experts still recommend vaccination and warn that the risk of developing myocarditis from having COVID-19 itself is typically higher and more severe. “There is a fundamental difference between the myocarditis associated with the vaccine and with COVID,” said Russo. “Myocarditis associated with COVID tends to be more severe.”