Mumbai: Is pollution giving city coughing fit?

Mumbai doctors are concerned about young healthy adults complaining of persistent cough after recovering from an infection The OPDs in many hospitals are seeing close to 75 per cent of such patients in a day While most doctors have blamed air pollution for the condition some believe secondary bacterial infection is the causeAccording to the doctors midday spoke to on Wednesday they see anywhere between 25 per cent and 75 per cent of OPD outpatient department patients in a day who come with persistent and chronic coughThis year along with New Delhi the air quality has been consistently poor in Mumbai too On Wednesday the city reported an Air Quality Index AQI of 283 which comes under the poor category Pollution has a severe impact on the respiratory health system doctors pointed outDr Susheel Bindroo Director Interventional Pulmonologist at HN Reliance Foundation Hospital said ldquoDuring winter there are many cases of viral infection wherein a patient has a chill and fever on the first two days and recovers from an upper respiratory tract infection in five daysBMC workers use a vacuum machine to eliminate roadside dust in Goregaon in 2020 File picSatej ShindeldquoHowever what I have been witnessing lately is that young people in their 20s and 30s with no history of any respiratory diseases are coming with intractable cough They also have wheeze which means they have infection of the lower respiratory tract I believe this is because of air pollutionrdquo he saidExplaining the link Dr Bindroo said ldquoWhen a patient has an upper respiratory tract infection pollutants and dust cause inflammation in the lung a condition which we usually see in chronic smokers If this condition prevails for a long time it might turn into chronic lung problems or cancerrdquoAlso Read Mumbai Hitech lab soon to track thwart endemic diseasesDr Jalil Parkar senior chest physician department of pulmonary medicine Lilavati Hospital said ldquoIt is true that people are suffering from prolonged cough problemsrdquo He added that some of the patients are also suffering from shortness of breathldquoWe cannot say it is only because of pollution though as there are multiple factors like a viral infection Both combined are causing such health issues In my OPD I see around 90 per cent of patients who have persistent coughs A study should be done to ascertain the reason behind this The resistance to diseases has also gone down postCOVIDrdquo A few doctors also pointed out that people who have recovered from COVID19 are also facing the same issue and that secondary bacterial infection is one of the reasons behind persistent coughDr Swapnil Mehta pulmonologist at Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital Powai said ldquoThe patients Irsquom seeing were infected with COVID19 before and whenever they get a viral infection that is not handled properly initially they develop a secondary bacterial infection two weeks later Even antibiotics donrsquot do much Around 30 per cent to 40 per cent of my patients are young adults with chronic cough issues and Irsquove been continuously seeing such patients for the past six monthsrdquo According to the experts antibiotics are not the only option as common medicines are also effective but it takes time to show effectDr Hemlata Arora senior consultant Internal Medicine Nanavati Nanavati Max Super Speciality Hospital said ldquoThe medicine doesnrsquot work immediately however if it is not bacterial infection then we donrsquot give antibiotics People come with a runny nose and sore throat and fourfive days later they develop a dry cough I also tested patients for COVID19 but their results came back negative Pollution and viral infection are causing respiratory problemsrdquo2 weeksMin duration of persistent cough among patients