Poor air lingers two weeks after Diwali, patients take longer to recover

Pune: Two weeks after Diwali festivities, residents continue to grapple with concerning air quality levels, with pollution indicators frequently exceeding the permissible limits and causing prolonged respiratory infections and worsening symptoms among asthma and COPD patients.

Dr Sundeep Salvi, director of Pulmocare Research and Education Foundation in Pune, said he was seeing a shift in respiratory infection patterns. "This year is different because after Diwali, viral infections are lingering for a longer period than earlier. Infections are now persisting for more than a week as against 2-3 days before," he said.

He said pollution was known to worsen underlying viral infections, something previously demonstrated in laboratory studies. "Now, we're observing this in real life," Dr Salvi said.

Medical experts said even moderate air quality levels posed significant health risks. "The damage created by poor air quality remains for an extended period. The healing process takes longer, even when pollution levels are only moderately high," he said.

Some doctors are even reporting pollution-triggered hospital admissions for respiratory conditions, particularly among those suffering from asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

Pulmonologist Dr Himanshu Pophale said there was a surge in patients experiencing exacerbation of their COPD and asthma symptoms. "The situation is further complicated by people continuing to burst firecrackers even after Diwali...In the post-monsoon season, owing to temperature drop, pollutants tend to stay near the surface level and don't disperse properly, leading to increased exposure to these harmful elements."

Detailing the severity of cases, Dr Pophale said, "We are seeing pollution-triggered hospitalizations among COPD and asthma patients. The excessive symptoms are necessitating hospital care, with some even developing pneumonia."

Another pulmonologist, Dr Swapnil Gosavi, said, "Cases of lower and upper respiratory tract infections are increasing by the day, with COPD and asthmatic patients landing in hospital complaining of breathlessness because of the air pollution. H1N1 cases too have flared up over the last 10 days."

Safar (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research) data from Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) showed persistent elevation in air pollutants. PM2.5 levels (running mean) reached 62.99 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3) at 5am on Nov 16, exceeding the permissible limit of 60 μg/m3. Previous readings showed PM2.5 at 64 μg/m3 on Nov 15 (1am) and 82 μg/m3 on Nov 12 (2pm).

PM10 levels have shown even higher violations of standards. Against the permissible limit of 100 μg/m3, PM10 running mean was recorded at 128 μg/m3 on Nov 16 (11am). Earlier readings were more severe, with hourly observations showing 168 μg/m3 on Nov 13 (11am), while the running mean on Nov 12 was 148 μg/m3.

Running mean represents an average calculated over a specified time period, typically 24 hours, providing a more stable indication of air quality trends compared to hourly readings. It helps smooth out short-term fluctuations to show sustained pollution levels.

These consistently elevated readings indicated that both PM2.5 and PM10 levels had been persistently exceeding their respective maximum permissible limits, beyond which they are considered harmful to human health.