Parents:

We are pleased to announce that the office was recently awarded the "Outstanding Pediatric Office Practice Teaching Award" from Golisano Upstate Pediatric Hospital. This award goes to a pediatric practice that: demonstrates dedication to teaching Upstate's medical students, serves as an excellent pediatric role model, provides a positive learning environment, and imparts outstanding education to many grateful students. Thank you to you and your families for allowing these medical students to help see your children while they are training.

7/8/2021: UPDATED CHECKIN INFORMATION: As of 7/8/21, we will be allowing all routine and well visit patients to enter the building to check in. All patients being seen for sick/acute care visits will still be required to call from their car to check in. Masks are still required for all people entering the building over the age of 2 yrs regardless of vaccination status. If your child is scheduled for a well visit but is experiencing any sick symptoms or anyone in the home has been exposed to COVID, has a pending COVID test result or is being quarantined, we ask that you call before you enter the building. If you have any questions or concerns, please call the office.

5/18/2021: MASK AND ATTENDING APPOINTMENT UPDATES

With regards to the changing mask regulations, we would like to remind parents that as a healthcare facility, we are still enforcing the mask policy in our office. However, we will now begin allowing 2 healthy adults/parents to accompany children to their appointments. Both must be wearing masks, not experiencing any sick symptoms, nor be pending any COVID test results or in quarantine. We appreciate your consideration of these guidelines. If you have any questions or concerns, please call the office.

Please follow our Facebook @summerwoodpediatrics for more up dated information.

2/22/21: It is now an office policy that if you need to obtain a form or document electronically, you must have an active patient portal for us to send it to you. If you do not currently have access to you child's portal, please call the office for details. Thank you!

4/19/21: COVID VACCINE AND OTHER VACCINATIONS:
Please be advised that we cannot administer any vaccines to a patient 2 weeks before or after a COVID vaccine (4 weeks if it is a “live” vaccine such as MMR or Varicella). You are welcome to keep your scheduled well visit and then schedule an injection only appointment after the recommended wait time. Please call the office if you have any questions or concerns. Additionally, if you have proof of the COVID vaccine administration, please bring it to your appointment to be put in your child’s chart.

For more information about COVID-19, click here

Onondaga County (COVID-19) Information 

We now offer telemedicine appointments! For more info....

6/21/21: EMAIL POLICY

Effective July 1st, 2021 we will no longer be emailing medical information from the office. All information requested will need to be either picked up, faxed (with proper release on file) or submitted to the patient portal. If you need portal activation information, please contact the office. Additionally, the release to share information with schools, daycares, camps, etc. is now available to be filled out electronically through our website (www.summerwoodpediatrics.com). It can be found under the Patients tab, under Forms (Third Party release).
Thank you!

A Letter from Dr. Dracker  - dated 09/14/2021

Dear Parents,

The new school year and the approaching fall season will be providing us with a number of challenges regarding how we can balance family health concerns while addressing the past and present psycho-social issues we all continue to struggle with. I, like many of you, have been confused by conflicting information we have received on the importance of booster vaccination and why we are now seeing some previously vaccinated individuals becoming ill with COVID.  Other than the recommendations for those with impaired immunity to receive booster doses at least 28 days after the second vaccine, we all await guidance with regards to when others should need a third vaccination.  Given the current situation of mutations, school resumption and variable vaccine protection and waning immunity, the most reasonable approach to limit risks to ourselves and children is to continue utilizing masks, maintain good personal hygiene and to avoid crowded activities, particularly those indoors.  

I would like to present you with a number of personal observations, which may not necessarily be accurate, but which might explain some of the issues we are now dealing with.  

Why do some people, including children, develop such a severe and devastating illness following a COVID infection and yet others do not? 

The SARS CoV2 virus has been unique in its ability to induce an inflammatory over-response in some individuals, which results in some of the secondary complications like blood clots, secondary infections and organ failures involving the lungs, liver, brain, peripheral nervous system and blood vessels.  These inflammatory over-reactions have been previously seen with other infections such as influenza and even certain bacterial infections.  In children, illnesses like Kawasaki syndrome and toxic shock syndrome can be very similar to the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MISC) in presentation.  When our bodies respond to a threatening infection, a “balancing act” ensues in our body’s immune system, in which there is both an inflammatory reaction that is subsequently suppressed by various hormones and other cell products.  These controlling or suppressive substances attempt to control an overreaction of the inflammatory response.  When this natural response is impaired by other infections, chronic health conditions or other medications we are taking, sometimes our body’s initial over-response can result in tissue and organ damage, which is not always correctable without prompt medical attention and therapies. Eventually, the inflammatory response quiets down, but leaving in its wake, permanent organ changes which will continue to have long lasting effects.  We have seen some of these post COVID effects such as lung impairment, cardiac inflammation, chronic fatigue and impaired mentation and even blood clot formation many weeks after diagnosis. Some of these lasting symptoms contribute to what has been termed, “Long Covid”. It is impossible to predict specifically who might experience these over-reactions to a COVID infection, so avoiding and minimizing the risks is best achieved by immunization and precautionary measures like masking.  Although some fully vaccinated individuals have contracted an infection, it is usually much milder in nature and has reduced risk of significant illness or death.  Some immunized patients who contract the virus and develop serious disease may represent those who have an inadequate response to the initial vaccinations, to which booster vaccination may be helpful. 

Why do vaccinated people still contract the virus and how can they spread the virus even if they do not realize that they have it? 

It is important to realize that corona viruses, like other respiratory viruses, cause an infection by first penetrating the defenses of our respiratory tract, specifically the mucous membranes of our nose, mouth and upper airways.  Once the cells lining our airways become infected, the virus reproduces within the cell until the cell ruptures and releases many viral particles which then infect other cells of the respiratory tract and are shed by sneezing, coughing or the transfer of mucous and secretions by surface contact.   When the infection infects our body below the surface of the respiratory lining it then becomes systemic or body wide and activates our immune response resulting in symptoms like fever runny noses, sore throat, coughing, body aches and headache.  Vaccination against certain illnesses results in the production of protective antibodies, specifically the main antibody called IgG which circulates in our tissues and bloodstream and wards off disease (and vaccine) specific viruses.  This antibody is not necessarily very effective at the outer lining of our respiratory tract in our nose and throat, however.  As a result, following adequate vaccination, we may develop internal, body wide protection, but our surface protection may be inadequate.  Some vaccines, like Rotateq which is an oral vaccine for babies to prevent a GI disease caused by rotovirus and Flumist, which is a nasal vaccine for flu prevention, result in the formation of a different type of protective antibody called IgA, which is produced at the linings of our GI tract or nose and mouth.  These antibodies are more effective at preventing the initial infection event from occurring.  Unfortunately, there is currently no nasal form of a COVID vaccine available.  As a result, although vaccination by injection can prevent serious systemic disease, it is not necessarily effective at preventing disease in our respiratory tract.  A vaccinated individual may therefore come in contact with the SARS-CoV2 virus (like the Delta or Mu variant) and develop an infection at the surface of their nose and mouth and upper airway, and not necessarily feel sick but may still be able to spread disease.  Which is why, AGAIN, masks and good hygiene will continue to be important! 

Another aspect of vaccinations to consider is that every individual’s response to an immunization is unique, similar to our immune system’s system response to any infection.  Following immunization, our immune system responds by initialing processing the foreign material after which we ultimately produce a wide assortment of antibodies which have variable specificities and binding capabilities for attaching to the foreign proteins of the pathogen or vaccine type.  The unique, individual-specific antibody production is why some people have a stronger or more durable response to a vaccine.  When someone’s general health is impaired due to other chronic conditions or poor health, their antibody response may also be sub-optimal, rendering vaccination less effective than expected, leaving the supposed immunized individual still susceptible to disease at some time. 

Why is getting the influenza vaccine so important this year, since very few people had the flu last year? 

First of all, it has been predicted that the 2021-2022 flu season may be more severe than usual, especially for children, due to the lower, general population level of immunity due to the lack of a usual flu season last year.  Although influenza vaccination is never 100% effective for any particular year, the more people who are vaccinated the less influenza virus will be circulating.  Considering that we will be continuing to deal with COVID related illness over the winter, it can result in serious disease severity for all ages.  Particularly of interest for our children who are not vaccinated against COVID, retrospective studies performed during the last winter season, demonstrate that flu vaccination offered some protection against severe COVID-19 disease.  It has been suggested that influenza vaccination may boost the innate immune system, including general defenses that are not tailored to any specific illness but may result in general resistance to other respiratory diseases like SARS-CoV2.  Potentially, the nasal version of the flu vaccine, Flumist, may also offer additional protection given the fact that it works at the outer respiratory tract. 

I hope that some of this information is helpful and clarifies some of the confusion which has been prevalent and has resulted in harmful misinformation.  I will provide you with more information next week specific to the flu vaccinations we will be providing.  In the meantime, if we can be of assistance with helping you care for your children please let us know. 

Sincerely, 

Dr. Dracker