Community Care Pediatrics - Latham

05/23/2026

We will be open for morning hours this Monday, 5/25. Please call after 8A for concerns that cannot wait until our business hours starting Tuesday at 8A. As always we will have a member of our team on call for emergency questions.

05/13/2026

Due to a scheduled upgrade causing EMR outage for all of CCP throughout this weekend, we will NOT offer sick hours this SATURDAY MORNING, 5/16. We will be able to accommodate newborn hospital follow ups. There are no other changes to our office hours this week or next. As always we will have a provider on call throughout the weekend. Please hold non urgent concerns until our open on Monday 5/18.

05/10/2026

You’ve heard us say “there’s a little bit of fluid but not an ear infection” plenty, right ? Here’s a great review of what the heck we are looking at, and the differences.

05/10/2026

We salute the people in the mother role today and always - we appreciate the tireless (and sometimes thankless!) work you do to provide good health and so much happiness to our patients! We wish all of you a fantastic day of rest, relaxation and celebration !

04/20/2026

We are already getting lots of calls and visits about tick bites. A few points:

You can get AHEAD of tick bites by using DEET-containing (ex: OFF! FamilyCare) insect repellant prior to outdoors at all times (for younger kids: spray on your hands and apply like lotion rather than spraying their faces).

Finding ticks early is the key to reducing transition of tick-bourne illnesses. If found: use a tweezer to pull from the base (as close to the skin as possible). DON'T: burn, freeze, use rubbing alcohol, scrape. We do not recommend sending away for testing as this will not necessarily change the recommended medical course of action. Additionally, please do not bring ticks into our office for us to see - we believe you 🙂

If you can find and remove a tick in less than 24-36 hours, it's not engorged - there's nothing to do right away and no need to call us (especially after hours!!) or to schedule a visit. There is an extremely low concern about tick-related illness in this situation (risk is near 0%!) - this is why doing end-of-day, daily tick checks is important.

If ticks have been present for > 36h (or you're not sure) and/or engorged - call us to schedule a visit to discuss further including whether your child is a candidate for antibiotic prophylaxis (one-time dose to prevent Lyme).

Not all tick bites need this, but any request for antibiotic should be discussed at an in-office visit.

After any tick bite: monitor for flu-like illness, bullseye rash expanding in size over days, for the next 4-6 weeks (note: there will be a small red ring around any bite, including ticks, after removal for several days - this is NOT Lyme rash).

04/16/2026

Dr Deimling (and special guest Nurse Vanessa) were featured in a story about a recent tragic Benadryl overdose death. Here’s some points not conveyed in this story but important for our families to understand.

**** Benadryl wears off very quickly, needs to be dosed frequently, and may have a lot of side effects. Luckily, there are much better, quicker acting, newer antihistamines that are available over-the-counter including Zyrtec (cetirizine), Claritin (loratidine) and Allegra (fexofenidine). These are dosed 1-2 times per day, based on age, and are less likely to have side effects.

**** it is Spring allergy season ! If your child is demonstrating allergy symptoms and/or has a known history of allergies, try one of the newer antihistamines listed here instead of Benadryl.

A Halfmoon mother is facing charges after giving her child what turned out to be a lethal dose of diphenhydramine.

04/08/2026

***ONLINE SCHEDULING***
The SNOW might imply otherwise BUT - it’s true. Does your child typically get their check up during summer ? Are they up to date for school (including vaccines), camp and fall sports ? Our busy season is coming and summer books quickly. For your convenience we are scheduling now, ONLINE HERE : https://pediatricslatham.communitycare.com

04/08/2026

Meet Dr. Zyra O’Connor ! We are so lucky to have Dr O’Connor as a part of our team for the last few years. She’s an outstanding MD and is taking new patients of all ages.

Here’s her “grown up” bio - https://pediatricslatham.communitycare.com/doctors/profile/zyra-oconnor/

Some fun facts about Dr OConnor:

I’m an island girl at heart and grew up in Guam 🇬🇺🏝️. I speak Tagalog !

I love the beach and hot, humid weather - but recently fell in love with cross country skiing !

My favorite food is tortang talong.

I love playing board games - current favorites are Cascadia, 7 Wonders Duel, and Clank!

04/05/2026

Easter greetings to our families who celebrate ! ☀️ 🌺

04/05/2026

Chag Sameach to our families who celebrate Passover !