20% increase in OPD rush at AIIMS due to biting cold
“Bronchitis cases have gone up. Heart patients also face risks. If the healthy people do not take care of themselves, they may face a condition called hypothermia which results in abnormally low body temperatures,” AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria said.
Doctors have seen a 20 to 30% increase in number of patients with respiratory ailments, heart conditions and uncontrolled hypertension in the last fortnight as the temperatures in the capital dropped to a record low.
“Bronchitis cases have gone up. Heart patients also face risks. If the healthy people do not take care of themselves, they may face a condition called hypothermia which results in abnormally low body temperatures,” AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria told news agency ANI.
Bronchitis is the inflammation in the lining of bronchial tubes that carry air to and from the lungs. In cases of respiratory ailments, it is not only the numbers but also the severity that has the doctors concerned.
“The cold along with high levels of pollution has resulted in exacerbation of symptoms in asthma patients. The sudden dip in temperature has been especially brutal for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We have had to intubate and put several people on ventilators; our ICU is overflowing,” said Dr Sandeep Nayyar, head of department of respiratory medicine, allergy and sleep disorders at BL Kapur Super speciality hospital.
There has been a 20% increase in the number of patients in the intensive care unit at the hospital. “People who were earlier being managed in the clinics are now coming to us in hypoxic state (a condition where the body is deprived of oxygen) and in need of emergency intubation,” he said. He suggests that those with weaker immunity – the children, the old, pregnant women, those on steroids or immunosuppressant and those with HIV – should take flu shots at the beginning of the season.Heart failure and heart attacks also go up when temperatures dip.
