As Delhi chokes, city hospitals see surge in patients reporting 'incessant cough, pounding headache'

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New Delhi: Delhis annual tryst with air pollution during the winter months brings a litany of ailments: dry persistent coughs, bronchitis, upper respiratory infections, and pneumonia..

Doctors at Fortis Hospital, Delhi, claim to have seen a 20-25 percent increase in the number of patients with pollution-related illnesses..

Dr Vikas Maurya, senior director and head of respiratory medicine and interventional pulmonology, told ThePrint, These are typically healthy individuals who remain fit throughout the year but develop these conditions, particularly in the winter months, when AQI levels in the city rise.. Delhis Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (RML), which launched its Air Pollution OPD in November last year, only began receiving patients after 14 October this year, once pollution levels started rising..

Dr Amit Suri, head of the respiratory medicine department at RML Hospital, told ThePrint, Our pollution clinics and the respiratory medicine OPDs are seeing an increase in pollution-related ailments among younger individuals, such as rickshaw pullers, traffic policemen, hawkers, and autorickshaw drivers aged 30 to 40, who spend extended hours on the streets.. 45-year-old Rajesh, a rickshaw puller, had been battling a relentless cough for nearly a month..

A survey conducted across Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad, and Ghaziabad by Noida-based community advocacy group LocalCircles, published on 11 November, found significant concerns among respondents over their health because of the rising pollution.. 41 percent of the21,000 respondents had visited a doctor or hospital in the 10 days before and after Diwali, while an additional 9 percent had sought online health consultations..

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