Spike in chronic cough cases among kids due to air pollution: Study

BENGALURU: A recent

study

by a senior

pulmonologist

has revealed that the city’s

air pollution

is resulting in rising incidence of chronic cough among children.

Dr H Paramesh, a senior paediatric pulmonologist, has found that air pollution was to blame for 21% of the

chronic cough cases

in children below 18 years in 2017-end, up from 8% in 1999. The over 160% increase in the incidence was arrived at after analysing children’s cases in Bengaluru hospitals over nearly two decades.



A cough that persists for two weeks or more is known as chronic cough in the Indian context. The study says rising levels of respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) in the air is the reason for chronic cough, and students who are stuck in traffic while commuting to school end up becoming the victims.

Dr Paramesh revealed this on the sidelines of the first meeting of C-40 City Air Quality Network, a global effort to tackle air pollution in urban areas across the world. His research paper titled ‘Air Pollution and Allergic Airway Diseases: Social Determinants and Sustainability in Control and Prevention’ was published in the April issue of Indian Journal of Pediatrics and in an American Medical Journal as well. “Chronic cough cases among children have multiple side-effects as they lose sleep and aren’t able to focus on studies. It has also been observed that more than 40% of parents in such cases refer to at least five medical consultants/doctors as they fail to find relief for their kids,” he explained.

The study points out that the impact of air pollution among children is spread across the social strata, though the number of victims from the economically weaker section, like those from slums, is more. The expert arrived at the findings after analysing children’s cases in Bengaluru hospitals over the years.

Dr Paramesh, who has conducted studies on other effects of air pollution on human health and published several medical papers, said even adults are not spared of the ill-effects. “While asthma and other respiratory problems are already common, we are increasingly finding air pollution being the cause of heart ailments, dementia and diabetes as well,” he said.

“We need clean air policies with standard norms and have to overcome challenges such as rapid urbanisation, lack of multi-sectoral policy-making and lack of finance for research and development,” he added.

3k children affected per yr

*Study says over 3,000 children suffer from chronic cough a year in the city

*This is causing major psycho-socio-economic health burden to the country

* Air pollution due to slow-moving traffic is among the major causes of increased prevalence of allergic airway diseases among children

* Kids who spend time on the road negotiating heavy traffic while commuting to school suffer more

* Such respiratory problems are common in kids from lower socio-economic background

* Urban children hit more than their rural counterparts

* Other associated clinical features present with chronic cough are snoring (42.4%), breathing through mouth (43.4%), conjunctivitis (27.3%), bruxism or involuntary grinding of teeth (16.9%) and sleep-disordered breathing (27.3%)

Source: Study by Dr Paramesh, senior paediatric pulmonologist

WHAT AILS B’LURU: CAUSES OF POLLUTION

42%: Vehicular emissions

20%: Road dust

14%: Construction activities

14%: Industrial emissions

7%: Diesel generator sets

3%: Domestic emissions and others

Source: Karnataka State Pollution Control Board


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