Poor air quality and change in weather are making the city a merry playfield for viruses and inflicting torment on Kolkatans, said doctors.
Many people are down with fever and sore throat. A number of people are admitted in hospital, some in critical care units, with acute respiratory distress.
Doctors said that in many families, all members are getting infected one after another.
“Viral infections and worsening air quality together are leading to a rise in the number of individuals suffering from respiratory problems,” said Chandramouli Bhattacharya, infectious disease specialist at Peerless Hospital.
He said the most common symptom of the current spate of viral infections is sore throat.
“People are complaining of sore throat. Often, there is severe pain in the throat and it lasts for two to three days. There is also a low-grade fever for a day or two. Many patients are having a severe cough that is persisting for several days,” said Bhattacharya.
“People with pre-existing lung conditions are turning up at the Emergency with more severe symptoms of respiratory illness.”
Four persons got admitted under Bhattacharya on Thursday with respiratory distress. Two dengue patients also got admitted under him during the day.
Amitabha Saha, head of critical care medicine at AMRI Hospitals, Mukundapur, said the past week saw a spurt in viral infections.
“The number of patients getting admitted with respiratory illness has increased in the past week. Air quality and a change in weather conditions are leading to the infections,” said Saha.
At AMRI Hospitals, Mukundapur, 30 per cent of the patients admitted in the critical care unit are suffering from acute exhortations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD), pneumonia and respiratory failure, he said.
“The majority of these patients have co-morbidities like diabetes, chronic kidney disease and COPD,” said Saha.
The Telegraph has been regularly reporting about the city’s poor air quality.
At 6pm on Thursday, six of the seven air quality monitoring stations in the city recorded “poor” air quality. Only one, at Rabindra Bharati University on BT Road, recorded “moderate” air quality.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, poor air can cause “breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure” and very poor air can cause “respiratory illness on prolonged exposure”.
Kolkata’s air quality remained “poor” and “very poor” in the first few days of this month. It then improved to “good” and “satisfactory”, only to worsen to “moderate” and “poor”.
Moderate air can lead to breathing discomfort to the people with lungs and heart diseases.
Saurabh Maji, pulmonary and critical care specialist at the RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, said 14 patients with respiratory illness got admitted under him on Thursday.
“They are suffering from asthma and COPD, which have aggravated because of poor air, and also pneumonia,” Maji said.
He said many patients are suffering from severe cough.
“Many have tried self-medication, mostly antibiotics. They are consulting a doctor only when the infection is getting worse,” Maji said.
Rupali Basu, managing director and CEO, Woodlands Multispeciality Hospital, said 13 patients with respiratory diseases were being treated at the hospital. Eight of them are in the ICU.
“There has been a 30-40 per cent increase in OPD patients with respiratory ailments. A major trigger for the spurt is poor air quality. We are also observing patients on long-term anti-allergic medicines developing spasms, which is unusual,” she said