Pollution is affecting children, says doctor at Ganga Ram Hospital

As the air quality in Delhi slipped to the 'severe' category post-Diwali, Dr Dhiren Gupta of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital's Paediatrics department on Saturday said that the pollution is affecting children-- not just those prone to asthmatic attacks, but also the ones with no history of respiratory problems.

"Pollution is affecting the kids who are predisposed for asthmatic attacks. We're also seeing that children who were absolutely normal are also facing respiratory problems," he said adding that this usually didn't happen in the past, especially when the patient had regular inhalers.

"This is the season of respiratory syncytial virus, so children who are getting respiratory tract infections because of pollution, are facing more respiratory problems. There is also irritation in the eyes," Gupta added.

He said that as many as three patients have been admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital with severe asthma attack.

"In past 10-15 days, we have seen a sudden rise in the exaggeration of symptoms in those who were asthmatic and allergic. They're requiring more inhalation therapy," Gupta said.

Further, the doctor said that the Particulate Matter (PM) value is so bad these days that it is affecting the eyes and causing irritation.

"It also leads to the clouding of the brain. Babies and children become irritable because of the pollution. Pollution is quite severe," he said.

Adding to it, Dr Ambuj Roy, a professor of Cardiology at AIIMS Delhi said that the problem of air pollution is a much bigger threat today than COVID-19.

"Elderly persons, patients with lung and heart problems, COVID-recovered patients, and pregnant women are very much susceptible to such kind of poor air quality, " he added.

As per the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the air quality would not improve until Sunday evening. The improvement would, however, just fluctuate in the 'very poor' category.

According to SAFAR, the concentrations of PM 2.5 stood at 436 on Saturday in Delhi.

( With inputs from ANI )

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