1,220 people died in Mumbai of bronchitis in 6 years: Data

Data obtained under Right to Information (RTI) from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) shows that in 2016, a total of 256 died of bronchitis, which dropped to 207 in 2017. In 2018, it was 229 and dropped to 209 in 2019. After the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, due to early robust screening of symptomatic respiratory diseases, people with non-Covid respiratory infections got treatment on time, which helped bring down the fatalities. In 2020, the fatalities dropped to 167 and further to 152 in 2021. The data of 2022 is still under examination.

As per doctors, most of the fatalities happen during the winter season when the air pollutants remain suspended close to the ground. When a person with bronchitis inhales the pollutants, it leads to further aggravation of the inflammation of the airways.

“Currently, a lot of construction work is going on in Mumbai which has increased pollution and the air quality has become poor. This has led to a rise in respiratory ailments including bronchitis and asthma,” said Dr Sanggita Checker, Consultant Chest Physician, Wockhardt Hospitals. In fact, many of the patients require hospitalisation.

“Since the air quality has gone down, we have seen an increased footfall of patients with bronchitis. And hence we feel that air pollution around the area also plays an important role,” said Dr Nimish Shah, consultant, pulmonary medicine, at Sir HN Reliance Hospital.

Doctors also attribute factors like mold and fungus growing in the house, post viral and bacterial infections among others. “Recently, we are seeing many patients with bronchitis after such viral and bacterial infections. Patients with existing asthma and COPD may develop wheeze in this phase,” said Dr Shah.

An analysis of the ward-wise data shows that slums have the most number of deaths. The G-North that covers Dharavi — the biggest slum in Asia — reported the most number of deaths related to bronchitis. In the six years, 135 people from the ward have died due to respiratory disease. The ward is followed by the K-East ward that covers Andheri (East) with 108 deaths.

A health officer from G-North said that a lot of slum dwellers approach local healers rather than going to the health posts. “This delays their detection and treatment. By the time they reach the hospital, the patients develop pneumonia,” said the doctor.

Shaikh Faiyaz Alam, president of NGO Govandi New Sangam Welfare Society from M-East ward who filed the RTI application, said, “In slums like Govandi, people live in such a deplorable condition beside the dumping yard and nallas that it weakens their lungs. Bronchitis and TB are quite common here.”

Children, older people, pregnant women and those having any respiratory ailment such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), allergies, cystic fibrosis, smokers, those exposed to dust and chemicals, second-hand smoking, and those exposed to air pollution are most vulnerable to developing bronchitis.

Doctors warned that if the respiratory disease is not treated on time, it can lead to acute bronchitis which has a high fatality rate. If a patient fails to get the required amount of oxygen from the blood, the organs get damaged, leading to death. “The deaths in cases of bronchitis are mainly because they are not treated in time. Most patients have long standing symptoms but they take treatment temporarily on need basis. This leads to progression of disease to severe form. Another complication of bronchitis is pneumonia which can also give a tough time to one and take a toll on his/her overall well-being,” said Dr Namrata Jasani, senior consultant pulmonology, Global Hospital.