GURUGRAM: There is a 50% rise in number of patients reporting to the city’s hospitals with ailments and allergies related to increase in air pollution, which further worsened after fire crackers were burst on Diwali. Though the Supreme Court had fixed a two-hour window between 8-10 pm for bursting only green firecrackers on Diwali, both directives were openly flouted in Gurugram on Wednesday.Dr Kajal Kumud, physician at Civil Hospital, said, “There was a 50% increase in patient footfall, especially of those with breathing problems including asthma, at the hospital in the past week. On Thursday, there was a long queue of patients who complained of running nose, burning eyes, wheezing, repeated cough, etc, mainly due to inhaling air polluted with emission from firecrackers.”New patients are coming up with adult onset asthma, which earlier was earlier a rarity, he added. This condition occurs when adults above 20 years of age are diagnosed with asthma for the first time. “Besides witnessing patients with exacerbation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, many new patients with adult onset asthma, which was a rarity before, are coming to us. Elderly people were affected the most by higher air and noise pollution, which has aggravated respiratory and auditory problems,” said Dr Arunesh Kumar, senior consultant, pulmonology, Paras Hospital.Kumar added that despite the Supreme Court guidelines for Diwali, air quality index (AQI) in Delhi-NCR crossed the 900 mark with dangerously high PM2.5 levels, which is hazardous to health. He said he expects further rise in cases of pulmonary infections and other problems like skin allergies and eye infections.”Dr Neetu Talwar, paediatric pulmonologist at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, said, “Pollution in winters has worsened. Respiratory problems in children and risks of viral illnesses is higher, as they are more vulnerable and go to schools or daycare or crèches, where transmission between children increases. Smog tends to settle down with air pollutants and children inhale these in greater amount. We have seen increase in footfall since Diwali, probably due to worse AQI.”

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