City hospitals see fewer respiratory illness cases this time than last year

New Delhi: Hospitals in Delhi saw fewer people coming in with respiratory illnesses this year as the national Capital reported less air pollution post-Diwali compared to last year.

Also, fewer instances of burn injuries were reported in Hospitals than in 2021.

Doctors, however, warned that it is too early to reach a definitive conclusion about the prevalence of respiratory illness post-Diwali since people tend to come to hospitals only when their condition worsens.

"The air quality this time is better than the last few years. Although there has been an increase in the number of respiratory cases in the last couple of days, the numbers were about 20 per cent less than last year, " said Dr Manoj Goel the Director of Pulmonology at Fortis Memorial Research Institute.

Government-run Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital and Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital reported fewer instances of such cases.

Dr Suresh Kumar, the medical director of LNJP Hospital said four to five patients came with respiratory complaints on Diwali.

GTB Hospital's Medical Director Dr Subhash Giri said there were fewer complaints of such respiratory illnesses since the air quality is slightly better this year probably due to windy conditions and a ban on firecrackers.

About burn injuries, Dr Giri said the hospital received 23 such cases. "Four were serious while the rest were minor burn injuries." LNJP also received six cases of burn injuries with all of them being minor ones, said its medical director.

Dr Sumit Ray, the head of the department of critical care medicine at the Holy Family Hospital, said that even though there were fewer cases of respiratory illnesses such as COPD and asthma, the situation needs to be monitored for the next couple of days.

"People tend to go to hospitals when their condition worsens. So we might see a surge in patients over the next couple of days," he said.

His views were endorsed by Dr Manoj Goel who advised people to get vaccinated against flu and pneumonia.

"It is too early to make a definitive conclusion. We still need to be careful and take all the measures to prevent pollution. Continue preventive therapy if suffering from chronic lung and heart diseases following doctor's advice," he said.

Dr Ray said they received six cases of burn injuries, with one being serious. "We referred that patient to Safdarjung Hospital."