40-50 pc rise in patients suffering from respiratory problems at Lady Hardinge, Kalawati hospitals

By Shalini Bhardwaj
New Delhi [India], November 5 : As the air quality shows no sign of improvement and the Air Quality Index (AQI) remains in a severe category, people in Delhi NCR are suffering from respiratory problems.
The Lady Hardinge Medical Hospital and Kalawati Hospital have shown a sudden rise in patients in OPD and emergency due to respiratory problems.
According to Dr Sharada, Resident doctor, Lady Hardinge medical hospital, "The exact data is not there but there is an emergency. There is a rise of 40 to 50 per cent rise in patients with acute pulmonary symptoms related to increase in pollution."
"So, the affected people are mainly those who already have other respiratory problems. The people who are prone are the ones who have weak immunity. They are suffering from other respiratory illnesses like cough. They have cough along with chest pain and difficulty in breathing. So, this is the situation, and the number of patients has also increased in paediatrics OPD," said Dr Sunil of Lady Hardinge Medical College.
Recently in an exclusive interview with ANI, the former director of AIIMS, Dr Randeep Guleria, who is also the HOD of the Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Sleep disorders said, "Pollution is causing more disability than tobacco smoke. We talk a lot about smoking, and not using tobacco. But now the burden of disability has shifted more towards air pollution, causing more problems than smoking cigarettes."
"So unfortunately the AQI is at severe range and we've seen that every year. There have been times when it has even gone up to 900 in the last few years. The concern, of course, is that it has a huge health hazard. A paper published in 2017 suggested that in India every year, more than 1.24 million people die because of air pollution. So it's huge mortality that we see. It causes huge disability. Many people have a problem," Dr Guleria explained.
"Due to rise in air pollution people with asthmatic or bronchitis problems even shift to coastal areas to protect themselves," Guleria said
"Many of our patients leave Delhi and go to the south or to the coastal areas because there is worsening of COPD and asthma if they stay in Delhi and have to be on oxygen or have to come repeatedly to the emergency," Guleria stated.
"The studies that we have been doing over the last few years have also shown that in children and adults, if you start looking at emergency room visits, there is a dramatic increase in emergency room visits for respiratory problems on day one and continuing for six days, whenever an AQI in the area becomes poor, very poor, or severe range. So we must understand that air pollution causes an acute problem. It's also causing long-term problems," he said as the emergency rooms see a dramatic increase in patients with respiratory problems.
"Now, there is data which suggests that heart disease strokes, low respiratory infections, COPD, or air pollution is causing more disability than tobacco smoke," Guleria added.
Dr Guleria further emphasised that some practical solution is required. "So I think there is a need for everyone, policymakers, scientists, general public to come together to find a sustainable practical solution to the problem ."
He further advised children and the elderly population to avoid going outside, exercise and wear an N95 mask.
He stated, "Children and elderly are at high risk. For those who have underlying heart and lung disease, we usually advise that they should not go out to avoid areas where AQI is high, we are able to monitor an AQI now in all areas, so they should look at the quality index in that area and decide to avoid going out early in the morning or late in the evening because there tends to be more ground level pollution during this time."
"When the sun is out and it's a little hot, the pollution tends to rise up. One should wear a mask, especially an N95 mask that does help to some extent, it's not a 100 per cent solution, but that can also be done and during times when there is a high level of air pollution exercise outside could also be avoided," he further stated.