Dr. Kanao Otsu enjoys a warm afternoon in her Stapleton backyard with her three children, left to right: Micah, 23 months, Kai, 9, and Sylvie, 7.

Spring has arrived and stray sneezes are starting to sneak up on us. It’s allergy time again, and with pollen in the air it may be time to find a way to stifle those sneezes. Allergy sufferers now have a close-to-home treatment option—Dr. Kanao Otsu’s Allergy & Asthma Care and Prevention Center has opened an office in Northfield.

“We’re a satellite office of a practice that’s been serving the Denver area in Lone Tree in an out-patient building at Sky Ridge Medical Center. A lot of the drug challenges and food challenges today need our help. Here at Stapleton Northfield we’ll be doing skin tests, such as percutaneous scratch testing and intradermal skin testing. We also do patch testing for contact dermatitis. So, if people have allergies to shampoos or any sort of thing that you would come in contact with on your skin, we can do a type of hypersensitive testing. We also offer medication testing because a lot of people are allergic to medications that they need to take, like penicillin.”

“Our patients range from newborns to older people—most allergists train in both internal medicine and pediatrics. It is common for a newborn to have a rash around the face, on its elbows, knees or behind the knees. There can be a food allergen if they are breast feeding and their moms are drinking milk or eating eggs. The baby may have allergic antibodies against these proteins. It’s actually really common.

Dr. Otsu also treats a lot of people who have asthma. She points out that though many people associate having asthma with going to pulmonary or lung doctors, asthma is often caused by allergies.

Dr. Otsu and her husband, Vadim Fayngersh, live in Stapleton with their three children. Ten-year-old Kai and 7-year-old Sylvie both go to Westerly Creek Elementary School, where 2-year-old Micah will attend soon. The family skied and snowboarded before Micah was born. But now, they go hiking and they all really “love the Broncos.” They look forward to going to the farmers market and the movies on the Green as warm weather develops.

The Allergy & Asthma Care and Prevention Center is located in Stapleton Northfield at 8340 E. 49th Ave., Bldg. K, Suite 2620, above Claire’s. The office is open from 8am–5pm on Monday, 2–6pm on Wednesday and 7–11am on Friday. The hours are meant to help people with appointments before or after school or work. And, there is a doctor on call to answer questions. Primary care referrals aren’t needed in order to see Dr. Otsu, although a pediatrician may send a child to her for testing.

Dr. Otsu recently completed her fellowship in allergy, asthma, and immunology at National Jewish Health and the University of Colorado Denver. She completed a residency in a combined internal medicine and pediatrics program at the University of Massachusetts. She also has a master’s degree in public health from Columbia University.

For more information about the Allergy & Asthma Care and Prevention Center, visit www.allasth.com or call 303.706.9923.