SPECIAL STRONGER TOGETHER UPDATE: AUGUST 18, 2022
Fall 2022 Semester Healthcare Update
Welcome to fall semester! As we get ready, and excited, for another great campus experience, we wanted to provide healthcare information to show what Stony Brook Medicine (SBM) is doing to keep us all safe, and to acknowledge and address any concerns faculty, students and staff may be having. We want everyone to feel comfortable and comforted in the knowledge that we continue to keep campus health and safety our priority, as we have throughout the COVID pandemic and now, as we stay on top of the monkeypox rare viral infection. We wanted to provide you with access to resources and information for your general knowledge and for individuals who may have specific questions or concerns. Below is a message from our Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH) Chief Medical Officer sharing what we are doing, as well as what you can do, to continue to keep us all safely together on campus. We also provide highlights of what our experts are saying in the news media, special SBM (East Campus) and SBU (West Campus) information on healthcare protocols, as well as a reminder of what undergraduate and graduate students should know and do as we enter fall semester. We hope you find this all helpful.
A Message from Dr. Jonathan M. Buscaglia, SBUH Chief Medical Officer
As the fall semester begins, we look forward to welcoming faculty, staff and students back to Stony Brook. And as the Chief Medical Officer for Stony Brook University Hospital, I want to assure you that we are keeping a close eye on healthcare trends related to both monkeypox and COVID-19. Ensuring the health and safety of our entire campus community is most important. Below please find some of these important details.
Monkeypox
As you may know, monkeypox is a rare disease that is transmitted by direct skin-to-skin contact with active lesions or sores, including those that may not be clearly visible. And while there have been a lot of news items on this disease, we wanted to re-emphasize some things that will be helpful to realize when analyzing and assessing risk factors ...
And, at Stony Brook, rest assured that we are prepared. Early on, we developed a task force of hospital staff throughout the organization who meet regularly to discuss protocols related to monkeypox. We've also compiled a number of valuable resources for staff to review and become better educated — all in an effort to do everything we can to contain the spread of the disease.
Protecting Yourself and VaccinesSuffolk County, in partnership with Stony Brook Medicine, is conducting several vaccination clinics at The Edie Windsor Healthcare Center in Hampton Bays. For more information on vaccination resources, eligibility and to schedule an appointment, visit the Suffolk County website.
If You Develop Symptoms ...
If you develop symptoms of monkeypox, you should talk to your healthcare provider (even if you don’t think that you’ve had contact with other people with monkeypox). Visit the CDC website for a description of the most frequent symptoms, including pictures of the characteristic rash.
Most people infected with monkeypox will experience mild disease that will resolve on its own in two to four weeks and does not require treatment. For those with severe disease or who have certain risk factors (for example, a weakened immune system), the medication tecovirimat (TPOXX) may be recommended. TPOXX can only be obtained from the federal government’s stockpile, and your healthcare provider can help you determine if your case qualifies. The New York State Department of Health has coordinated with several sites, including Stony Brook Medicine, to prescribe this medication to those who may benefit from it.
COVID-19
We continue to actively monitor COVID-19 and are still seeing a relatively high number of people who are infected within the community and in our hospital.
You can help protect yourself from severe COVID-19 illness by ensuring that you are up-to-date with your COVID-19 vaccines, which includes all boosters that you are eligible for based on health status and age. Continue to practice individual risk assessment and management when it comes to situations such as mask use in indoor settings and in crowded outdoor venues; and if you choose not to wear a mask, please be tolerant of those who do.
Overall, we want to ensure that you are healthy and safe. We will continue to keep the Stony Brook community engaged and informed through our various employee communications.
With best wishes for good health,
Jonathan M. Buscaglia, MD, FASGE, AGAF
Chief Medical Officer, Stony Brook University Hospital
Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology
Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
