Hospitals and clinics across Delhi and the National Capital Region are seeing more patients with breathing difficulties, persistent coughs and asthma as air pollution worsens after Diwali, and doctors warn numbers could rise further, Bhagirath reports for Down To Earth.
At Majeedia Hospital in South Delhi, the respiratory outpatient department recorded 42 patients with breathing difficulties on 9 November. On days of poor air it usually sees 50 to 60 patients, against 30 to 40 on cleaner days, and staff estimate patient numbers rise by 60% to 70% in the pollution season. Dr Nawaz Sharif, an emergency medical officer there, said 30 patients with similar complaints came to the emergency department within 12 hours of Diwali night last year.
Dr Harshit Jain, a general physician in Faridabad, said most patients coming to his clinic with coughs, asthma and throat irritation during and after Diwali are over 60, and warned that breathing problems can also strain the heart, especially in people with existing conditions. Among those waiting at Majeedia was Mohammad Sabahuddin, 38, whose cough worsens whenever the air gets worse.
In contrast, the Pollution-Related Diseases Prevention Centre at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, opened in November 2023, had no patients when the reporter visited on 9 November. The clinic runs every Monday from 2pm to 4pm with specialists in respiratory medicine, skin, ear, nose and throat, psychiatry and eye care.
Dr Ishita Kumar Batra, a respiratory specialist at the clinic, blamed low public awareness and said children and older people are the most vulnerable, while the hospital's regular respiratory clinic on Tuesdays and Thursdays has been especially busy for a month. Dr Amit Jindal said most people with pollution symptoms prefer general outpatient services to waiting for a weekly clinic, and that some patients whose conditions had been stable are returning before their scheduled follow-ups.
Doctors also reported people with no previous respiratory diagnosis developing symptoms as air quality falls, a sign that the seasonal smog over north India is a health burden well beyond those already ill.
Photo: wili hybrid / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Down To Earth
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