Hosps fill up fast with patients with lung ailments – Times of India

Kolkata: The onset of winter and a worsening of city’s air quality have led to a sharp spurt in the number of people suffering from lung diseases, forcing several hospitals to add beds in ICUs and wards. Scores have been struck by COPD, interstitial lung disease, asthma, lung infection and pneuomonia, which, some physicians suspect, could also be a lingering impact of long Covid. There is a long queue of patients waiting for admission at multiple hospitals.
A significantly high number of these patients, most of whom are elderly, need ICU admission. CMRI Hospital, for instance, has 30 to 35 patients suffering from lung diseases. “Our 22-bed pulmonology ward is full. Other ICUs are being used for these patients. It had been far better in the last two years of pandemic, when pollution was less. This time, there has been a deluge of admissions since last week. Almost 75% of these patients are now in ICU. There is a long queue of patients waiting for admission,” said CMRI Hospital director of pulmonology Raja Dhar.
Pollution triggered by the “inverse temperature effect” is primarily responsible for this spate of illness, according to Dhar. “Pollution is a major factor. In winter, the polluted air near the ground cannot climb up. So, the pollutants keep circulating with the air at a breathable height for close to 12 hours and easily gets into our lungs. Instead of vertical circulation, we have horizontal circulation in winter which is the inverse temperature effect,” he said.
Kolkata’s air quality has been “very poor” over the last few days, particularly the finer particulate matter or PM2.5 count. Except for Fort Willaim and Rabindra Sarobar stations, the AQI remained on the higher side of ‘very poor’ on Thursday.
Apollo Multispecialty Hospital, too, has seen a sharp rise in the number of patients with lung ailments, especially in the OPD. A number of factors, including rise in pollution, are responsible for this, according to Apollo pulmonologist Sushmita Roychowdhury. “We see a spurt in viruses, temperature fluctuation and a pollution rise in winter. This time, we have a seen a surge in number of COPD and asthma patients,” she said.
RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences intensivist Sauren Panja said: “We have also seen a rise in the number of new lung patients this season. Viruses like rhino, adeno and respiratory syncytial trigger respiratory diseases which have been very severe in some cases.”
Automobile emission is bad for asthma patients and many have been affected over the last two weeks, said Angshuman Mukhopadhyay, senior consultant, pulmonology at AMRI. At Peerless, 15-20 patients are being admitted daily with lung diseases.
The spurt in lung ailments could also be a fallout of long Covid, felt Dhar. Roychowdhury, though, said: “It has got more to do with pollution and weather.”