Bihar’s Muzaffarpur city is witnessing a dip in quality of air. More than cold, it’s the pollution which has created mayhem in the day to day life. People across age bar are suffering from allergy, fever, cold and cough.
In the past few days, the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) has received high cases of bronchitis. Last week, 70 per cent of patients came down with allergic complaints. Whereas Muzaffarpur town’s Sadar Hospital is receiving 50-70 patient per day. Medicine department of SKMCH has reported 200 patients with the problem of cold and cough.
Senior Physician Dr Shailendra Kumar blames the bad air quality for recent incidents of a respiratory disease which includes acute bronchitis, chronic bronchitis and emphysema, a pair of commonly co-existing lung diseases. Both these diseases block the flow of air to and from the lung, causing breathing problem. If the patient reaches an advanced stage of ailment, he can also die.
Physician of Sadar hospital also accepted the rise in a number of patients with symptoms of a respiratory disorder. A senior doctor of the Pediatrics department, SKMCH J.P.Mandal says- Generally during this season chances of having bacterial infection increases with a viral cough, diarrhoea, pneumonia, etc and nowadays incidences of a dry cough in patients is frequent which is a dangerous sign with respect to air then inhale.
It should be noted that in recent past as per recent air quality index (AQI) bulletin released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Muzaffarpur’s air quality has worsened.
On terms of precaution here are the symptoms of acute or chronic bronchitis:
- Cough
- Production of mucus (sputum), which can be clear, white, yellowish-grey or green in colour — rarely, it may be streaked with blood
- Fatigue
- Shortness of breath
- Slight fever and chills
- Chest discomfort
Precaution to be undertaken includes- Checking the Air Quality Index (AQI) every day (if bad, then use a mask when exposed to outdoor air), avoid going to places with poor ventilation and avoid tobacco smoking
As population density in Bihar is almost three times more than in most other states in the country it is more susceptible to the diseases.
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