Gurugram health dept braces for a rise in respiratory illnesses with onset of winter

The district health department has instructed its healthcare workers to be on alert for an uptick in respiratory illnesses over the next few weeks as the temperature

The district health department has instructed its healthcare workers to be on alert for an uptick in respiratory illnesses over the next few weeks as the temperature drops with the onset of winter.

HT Image

Officials explained that the upcoming season will pose two challenges amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic: first there will be an increase in the severity of respiratory diseases other than Covid-19, such as asthma, pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD). The second challenge will be to tackle the spread of Covid-19 itself, which, experts say is likely to speed up during the colder months (a pattern that has been well established with other respiratory illnesses, such as influenza).

Health department officials said they are preparing to meet both challenges by shoring up testing for Covid-19 and beefing up surveillance for ‘winter diseases’. Medical officers, lab technicians involved in sample collection, and NHM field staff have been told to prioritise tests for people suffering from signs of respiratory distress, or severe acute respiratory illnesses (SARI).

Dr Jai Prakash Sharma, the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program’s district surveillance officer in Gurugram, said, “The overall burden of respiratory diseases, both Covid and non-Covid, will rise in winter. The festive season is also coming up. So, there will be more social engagements and travelling. Low temperature and high levels of air pollution are perfect for symptoms of asthma and COPD to worsen. After monsoons, we knew that we will see more people coming in with flu-like symptoms; now we are expecting more people to come in showing signs of distress, such as chest pain, shortness of breath and upper respiratory tract infections.” All these patients, he added, would need to be tested for Covid-19, due to the overlapping nature of their symptoms.

Dr MP Singh, nodal officer for containment zone management in Gurugram, added that the health department is prepared to absorb any such surge. “Our rapid response teams and field staff have been told that anyone showing even the slightest sign of respiratory distress needs to be given a test on a priority basis. The first step is to determine whether they are Covid-positive, in which case there is a particular course of treatment. If they are not, then they can be referred elsewhere to treat whatever it is they have. Our aim is to prevent the patient from going into acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which may be fatal.”

As new daily infections, and test positivity, have slowly been dropping over the last few weeks, the health department has not had to urgently expand its testing capacity in September. “But we are well placed to conduct upwards of 5,000 tests per day by the end of October, so we will be able to accommodate anyone with symptoms who needs a test,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, Gurugram. He added that facilities for tertiary care are also available in adequate measure, with less than half of ICU and ventilator beds currently occupied, and only a quarter of general hospital beds with oxygen facility in use.

Experts agreed that a heightened public health response would be required during winter months to keep the death rate of Covid-19 down. “In outbreak areas, or among vulnerable populations, authorities might want to consider giving free shots to protect against other respiratory illnesses, such as viral influenza or bacterial pneumonia. And of course, more tests for Covid-19 are a must because one should expect the transmission to accelerate in the winter,” said Dr Prabhakaran Dorairaj, vice president ( research and policy) and director, Centre for Control of Chronic Conditions, PHFI.