23 November,2010 07:18 AM IST | | Priyanka Vora
As November rains lash the city, sending the humidity levels off beam, hospitals are lined up with patients complaining of respiratory ailments and allergies
The winter is about to set in but monsoon refuses to leave the city. The chills with untimely spells of rains have left many to battle with an array of allergies.
Doctors in the city have seen a twofold rise in patients suffering from respiratory disorders, some so severe that they are landing patients in the intensive care unit.
This man was among many who were caught unprepared by the sudden showers yesterday
Dr Prashant Chhajed, director of lung care and sleep centre at Fortis Hiranandani Hospital in Vashi, said, "In the last one week, the number of people coming with allergic rhinitis and asthma has doubled as compared to November last year." Rhinitis is an irritation in the nose caused by inflammation of the nasal mucous membrane.
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While Dr Pramod Niphadkar of Asthma and Bronchitis Association of India said, "Usually in November the number of such allergies goes down. But this year there is a 30 per cent rise in the cases. The unusual weather this month is triggering frequent asthma attacks."
The truant weather is more unforgiving to those who already have one or the other disorder. "This season is a mixture of all three weathers. It is cold in the morning, warm in the afternoon, and by evening it starts raining.
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Such weather fluctuations do not go well with patients with an underlying disorder like asthma or COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).
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They are suffering from frequent attacks and the severity is very high due to the constant change in humidity levels in the city," said Dr Ashok Mahashur, respiratory disease specialist at Hinduja Hospital, adding that children are the worst sufferers.
Dr Amita Athavale, who heads KEM Hospital's chest medicine department, explained why the weather is throwing your immunity out of kilter.
"The rains and increased humidity leads to the rampant growth of fungal pores which is the reason for the increase in allergies," she said.
However, it's not only people with underlying disorders but also people who have no history of allergies who are falling prey to the fluctuating weather.
Take the case of a young student who came to Mumbai during Diwali and got a cough which couldn't be treated by regular medicines. She was diagnosed with severe pneumonia.
The rains have also triggered the deadly sting. Malaria cases are still reported in November, which is usually not the case.
"People who have just been treated of malaria are landing up with upper and lower respiratory infections," added Mahashur.
