Medication, tests are part of life for this student

NEW DELHI: Deepika Verma remembers waking up one November morning fighting for breath. She has had asthma since she was a child. She saw the fog outside her window but only when she stepped out that the air seemed to sting. “It wasn’t normal fog, it was smog, a very bad kind,” she said.

The pollutants in the air doesn’t just sting Deepika’s eyes, for her it seemed like her lungs were burning. She also suffers from a disorder common among asthmatics: allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. A fungal infection that is destroying her lungs.

A fungus, Aspergillus fumigatus, which is found in the soil, dust and construction material, triggers an immune disorder in her body.

She has a persistent cough on regular days. But winters are a nightmare, and last month she was convinced she wouldn’t survive the onslaught.

She took leave from the school where she teaches part-time and went to see a doctor. He prescribed medication and gave her injections to help see through the episode.doctors, medication and tests are a part of Deepika’s life. Frequent bouts of pneumonia had her visiting the hospital regularly as a child and during the first 10 years, her disease remained undiagnosed. It was only when she was referred to the Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute in 2013 that the fungal infection was detected.

Her condition leaves her vulnerable to several diseases. The fungal infection worsened her asthma. Every few months she gets blood tests to capture allergy lev-

It wasn’t normal fog, it was smog, a very bad kind. DEEPIKA VERMA,

els. Results of diagnostic tests showed low allergy levels the last time, but this time she expects them to be much worse.

The treatment did not come cheap. Initially her uncle bore the cost till someone told the family that their BPL (Below Poverty Line) card makes them eligible for free check-ups.

Apart from pursuing a Bcom through correspondence, she teaches social science at a local school, and afterwards she takes tuitions at her grandmother’s house. Her mother is a housewife and father does odd jobs. With her elder sister studying for a professional exam and a younger brother in school, for Deepika staying at home protected from the pollutants is not an option.

The fungal infection is likely to damage her lungs permanently and she will be on medication all her life. The dirty stinging smog only makes her life harder.