Augusta University
Jose Vazquez, MD
Infectious Diseases
- Augusta GA UNITED STATES
Dr. Jose Vazquez studies and treats infectious diseases, including COVID-19, antibiotic-resistant superbugs and fungal infections.
Contact More Open optionsSpotlight
April 17, 2023
2 min
Multimedia
Social
Biography
Vazquez chairs the Antimicrobial Stewardship service at Augusta University Medical Center and the Institutional Review Board at Augusta University. Prior to this, he was Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Wayne State University School of Medicine and Senior Staff Physician in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at Henry Ford Hospital and Medical System both in Detroit, Michigan.
Areas of Expertise
Accomplishments
Healthgrades Honor Roll
2018-06-01
Dr. Jose Vazquez, MD is an infectious disease specialist in Augusta, GA and has been practicing for 27 years. He specializes in infectious disease medicine and internal medicine.
Exemplary Teaching Award (2017)
2018-01-19
Medical College of Georgia
Affiliations
- The American College of Physicians
- The American Society for Microbiology
- HIV Medicine Association
- Infectious Disease Society of America
- International AIDS Society
- International Society for Infectious Diseases
- International Society for Human and Animal Mycology
- National Foundation for Infectious Diseases
- Mycosis Study Group
Links
Media Appearances
App uses AI to provide at-home assessment of coronavirus risk: Study
Business Standard online
2020-03-05
"We are trying to decrease the exposure of people who are sick to people who are not sick," said Jose Vazquez, another co-author of the study.
New coronavirus app combined with machine intelligence to enable at-home risk assessment
News-Medical-Net online
2020-03-05
Dr. Arni Srinivasa Rao and co-author Dr. Jose Vazquez, chief of the MCG Division of Infectious Diseases, are working with developers to finalize the app which should be available within a few weeks and will be free because it addresses a public health concern.
Coronavirus infectious but most cases are mild, studies find
The Augusta Chronicle online
2020-03-02
"What was concerning out of the Chinese CDC were the 889 who tested positive but did not have symptoms yet," said Dr. Jose Vazquez, chief of infectious diseases at Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.
Augusta and Georgia preparing for coronavirus outbreak
The Augusta Chronicle online
2020-02-29
AU Medical Center, like most hospitals, has a pandemic plan and trains for it, said Dr. Jose Vazquez, chief of infectious diseases at Augusta University. It also has a coronavirus task force that meets weekly to go over and update plans and new information, he said.
Local doctor explains Coronavirus
WJBF tv
2020-01-29
There are now five confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in the United States. Doctor Jose Vazquez, Chief of Infectious Diseases at the Medical College of Georgia says there’s a chance that we could see more cases.
Lime disease: A complex medical challenge
Georgia Health News online
2018-07-31
The Infectious Diseases Society of America doesn’t believe in chronic Lyme disease, says Dr. Jose Vazquez, chief of the Medical College of Georgia’s Division of Infectious Diseases. “We recognize Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome, and so does the CDC.”
Taking a Bite out of Zika
Columbia County Magazine print
2017-07-01
“We had no Zika cases here last year, but every year it spreads a little bit farther north,” says Dr. Jose Vazquez, chief of infectious disease at MCG at Augusta University. “The only people that really need to be concerned about Zika are the folks that are having babies,” says Vazquez. “We don’t know how long the virus will last in the system. We don’t know if a child can develop abnormalities down the road. It’s certainly a possibility.”
Some tick bites can land you in the hospital
WJBF-TV News Channel 6 tv
2017-06-30
Ticks transport diseases from animals to humans through biting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People can get as many as nine different types of diseases from ticks. Dr. Jose Vazquez, Chief of Infectious Disease at AUMC, said "Patients need to go on antibiotics right away. If it's not treated or caught right away then patients can then develop heart abnormalities, brain abnormalities, paralysis and dementia," Dr. Vazquez said.
1 in 10 exposed to raw sewage will be sickened
WRDW-TV News 12 tv
2017-01-13
Augusta University Infectious Disease Chief Dr. Jose Vazquez says the sewage back up the City of Augusta is experiencing poses a significant health risk. Gastroenteritis is one of many diseases people can catch with sewage right outside her door. "Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, cramps, fever, a lot times you start to dehydrate, you feel weak. On occasion you can have bloody diarrhea," said Dr. Vazquez. Hepatitis A also a risk, he says.
Study asserts Georgia does have Lyme disease
The Augusta Chronicle
2015-04-17
Jose Vazquez, a professor and chief of the Infectious Diseases Section at Georgia Regents University, said STARI can be transmitted from the lone star tick and is easily mistaken for Lyme disease. “STARI does produce the bullseye and the fever, but it doesn’t become chronic like Lyme disease,” Vazquez said, noting that STARI symptoms typically subside and vanish within a week. “Most Georgians who see a rash form after a tick bite will likely find that it is STARI and not full blown Lyme disease.”...
Bacteria evolve 'dome' to hide, resist
The Augusta Chronicle print
2013-12-16
Bacteria are increasingly using a “dome” to evade the immune system, develop resistance in the body and thrive in the environment, researchers at Georgia Regents University (now Augusta University) said.
I-TEAM: STD rates on the rise in senior citizens
WRDW tv
2022-05-16
STD rates in senior citizens have been climbing across the country for the past seven years. Our I-Team found the rates of gonorrhea alone in the 65+ age range doubled from 2015 to 2019. Doctors expected the pandemic to slow down some of the spread, but our I-Team found, that they actually see the opposite. The challenge is getting seniors to hear a message they may be uncomfortable talking about. That’s where Dr. Shannon Dowler, also known as “Rap Doctor D” comes in. She’s spent her entire career educating people about STDs, she’s writing a book on the senior STD crisis, and she even advises the CDC on the issue.
Should we prepare for monkeypox? We checked in with local health experts
WRDW tv
2022-07-26
After over two years of a pandemic, some may not have given much thought to the current monkeypox outbreak. The World Health Organization says it is a global concern. There are no confirmed cases locally, but Georgia is ranked 5th in the country for total cases. South Carolina is in the middle of the pack, ranked 25th. We spoke with our local doctors who say it’s only a matter of time before our area has its first case.
Flu season is here, with expected increase in cases since past two years
WJBF tv
2022-10-06
We expect more influenza cases in the CSRA this year than in the past two years. “It is important to note that it’s starting to pick up,” said Dr. Jose Vazquez, the chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. “Eighteen cases is pretty significant in the past two months when we shouldn’t be having any, maybe just a handful.”
Augusta is seeing low COVID rate, but it may not stay that way
WRDW tv
2023-01-02
Over the last several years, COVID has played a major role in how we celebrate the holidays. But this year is different as many visited with friends and family. Looking at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID spread map, most of our local areas are green, which means low spread. Aiken is the only major county that’s higher, and it’s yellow for medium. But local doctors we spoke to on Monday say this map doesn’t tell the whole story.
CDC warns emerging fungus can cause severe, deadly infections in hospitals, nursing homes
Fox 11 Los Angeles tv
2023-04-04
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention says Candida auris, or C. auris, is an emerging health threat, a type of fungus can cause severe, potentially life-threatening infections in people hospitalized with compromised immune systems. Dr. Jose Vasquez, chief of infectious diseases at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, says there are several reasons for concern about this fungus. "The biggest fear is that it is multi-drug resistant," he says. "So, it is resistant to many different drugs." The CDC says most C. auris infections respond to antifungal medication, but some do not. Vasquez says C. auris is also hard to detect without highly specialized lab equipment that many hospitals do not have.
Answers
-
Is C. auris contagious outside a healthcare setting?
-
So it's not like you, or I are going to be walking down the street, and say hello to somebody, and shake hands (and get infected), that's not going to happen. You have to be in the hospital, and then you have to have the risk factors which I mentioned: they are on broad spectrum antibiotics, or they're on mechanical ventilation, or they've been in the intensive care unit for a period of time.
-
Why is the fungus Candida auris, or C. auris a major concern?
-
The biggest fear is that it is multi-drug resistant.. So, it is resistant to many different drugs. It is also hard to detect without highly specialized lab equipment that many hospitals do not have.
Articles
Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Candidiasis: 2016 Update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America
Clinical Infectious Diseases2016 Invasive infection due to Candida species is largely a condition associated with medical progress, and is widely recognized as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the healthcare environment...
Safety and Efficacy of Posaconazole in the Long-Term Treatment of Azole-Refractory Oropharyngeal and Esophageal Candidiasis in Patients with HIV Infection
HIV Clinical Trials2015 Purpose: To evaluate safety and efficacy of long-term posaconazole in HIV-infected patients with azole-refractory oropharyngeal candidiasis and/or esophageal candidiasis.
T2 Magnetic Resonance Assay for the Rapid Diagnosis of Candidemia in Whole Blood: A Clinical Trial
Clinical Infectious Diseases2015 Background: Microbiologic cultures, the current gold standard diagnostic method for invasive Candida infections, have low specificity and take up to 2–5 days to grow. We present the results of the first extensive multicenter clinical trial of a new nanodiagnostic approach, T2 magnetic resonance (T2MR), for diagnosis of candidemia.
