As Diwali nears, AIIMS reports rise in patients with respiratory issues

Diwali is still a couple of weeks away, but doctors at the out-patient department of Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) are already seeing a rush of patients with symptoms like wheezing and cough that they associate with rising pollution and a dip in the temperature.

“More than 80% of my patients were wheezing and coughing and had an increase in symptoms in the last one week. The levels are really bad and it is affecting not just the elderly and children and people with low immunity, but also healthy people.

“These look like pollution-related allergies and lung diseases,” said GC Khilnani, head of department, pulmonary medicine, AIIMS.

“I had no choice but to enhance their inhalers and some even required systemic steroids, both in the form of tablets and injections. Diwali is still some time away but we are already in trouble,” Khilnani added.

Air pollutants — such as particulate matter, sulphur and nitrogen oxide — trigger allergies, cough, lung infections, high blood pressure, asthma, anxiety, fatigue diabetes, heart disease and even irreversible lung damage.

Humans breathe 15 times in a minute, 900 times in an hour, and doctors say that prolonged exposure to such high pollution levels leads to health conditions.

“Apart from respiratory distress, sustained exposure to air pollutants — sulphur oxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter — lowers immunity and raises the risk of viral and bacterial infections,” said RK Singhal, director, department of medicine, BLK Super Speciality Hospital.

What’s worse is that people self-medicate without realising that it is actually not an infection, but inflammation of the lungs caused by air pollutants. Repeated courses of antibiotics can be harmful.

Symptoms such as cough, sore throat, shortness of breath and phlegm will continue for a while as it takes long to heal in this weather.

“Avoid self-medication. If symptoms persist for more than a couple of days, see a doctor,” said Singhal.

People should also take precautions like not stepping out during the mornings and evenings when pollutants hang in the atmosphere at a breathable level.

High-risk people should avoid heavy traffic areas and crowded places. The AC fan should be kept on when indoors. Use of air purifiers can be useful but only in a closed environment, with doors and windows completely shut.

Properly fitted N-95 masks should be used, which may initially cause breathing difficulty that eases with regular use.

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