Delhi-based Garima Singh is disheartened every time her young son is admitted to the hospital and administered high-dose steroids, painful injections and discomforting nebulizers. However, Singh, a publicist by profession, has no other option but to let her three-year-old child suffer all the pain.
“I blame the polluted air for my baby suffering from recurring episodes of breathlessness, wheezing, laboured breathing and chest congestion," she said.
These episodes have translated into hospital admissions thrice in the last two years. “We have consulted top neonatologists, paediatricians, and pulmonologists and have no solution to this problem," she told News18.com.
Singh added: “Due to such an environment, we have purposely stopped sending him to play school. We, as parents, feel guilty about keeping our child caged at a time when he should be exploring the world. But as they say, health is wealth."
Singh is not alone. In fact, the emergency wards of hospitals are full of parents rushing in with their wheezing and coughing children.
Dr Krishan Chugh, Director, Paediatrics, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, told News18.com that he sees “10 or more cases every day" and “this number is higher this year".
Children in Delhi-NCR are facing episodes of coughing and wheezing much more frequently, mostly one after another because of air pollution, Chugh said. “Children hardly recover from one bout of illness and the next one hits them. Some unfortunate children continue to wheeze and cough for weeks and months."
Dr Pooja Khanna, assistant professor at the paediatrics department of Faridabad-based Amrita Hospital, noted a similar spike.
“In the past few days, we have seen a surge in the number of paediatric patients coming with respiratory issues," she said, estimating that the “OPD attendance of such patients is up by at least 30 per cent from the last season. We are seeing a steady increase of patients presenting with acute severe asthma".
The common complaints of such children are cough, respiratory distress and wheezing. In infants, cases of bronchiolitis are common in the Out Patient Department (OPD).
Many of these children require nebulization, while some need admission and oxygen. Older children, especially those with asthma and allergies, are especially in for a tough time.
Complaints from children have not been observed in just Delhi-NCR but in other states too where the air quality index remains in the ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ category.
Dr Rajneesh Srivastava, consultant, respiratory medicine, at Lucknow’s Medanta Hospital is also witnessing a similar trend.
“We are seeing an increase in the incidence of asthma and respiratory infections in young children as well as increased exacerbations during periods with increased air pollution levels," he said.
How does air pollution affect the respiratory system of children?
Air pollution not only affects the respiratory system but has been shown to have derogatory effects on the all-round development of children, including neurocognitive decline and low IQ.
“We need to mask up our children again and try to keep them indoors for the next couple of weeks at least," Khanna said while suggesting the use of an air purifier at home.
She also advised seeing a paediatrician early if the child complains of cough, chest tightness or has any respiratory or nasal symptoms.
Srivastava from Medanta explained that while air pollution affects all of us, children are more vulnerable to breathing in polluted air.
“Children also breathe more rapidly and take more air, thereby inhaling more polluted outdoor air than adults typically do."
He said children who have been exposed to high levels of air pollution may be at greater risk of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease or cancer later in life. “It’s advisable to keep your kids indoors as using masks for toddlers is not an easy task."
The most deleterious effect of air pollution on the growing lungs of children and infants, according to Dr Chugh, is that the airways, which are already narrow, get narrowed further because of the congestion.
“This narrowing has to be overcome by breathing harder and faster. It means they will become fatigued soon and oxygen levels will start dropping. Young children have growing lungs, which means if such episodes happen frequently, their ultimate growth of lungs when they reach 10-15 years of age will not be comparable to the peers who did not face such episodes or were not exposed to this level of air pollution," the doctor said.
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