Kavya Malhotra, a resident of Mumbai's Ghatkopar area, would have been considered a healthy 20-year-old until three months ago. She ate a balanced diet, did her daily workouts, and had no underlying comorbidities.
Since early December, however, Kavya has been relentlessly coughing, and has developed wheezing. After several rounds of antibiotics, a few chest x-rays, her doctors suggested she get tested for influenza. She is currently on heavy medication, and her road to recovery is much longer than expected.
Top pulmonologists in Mumbai are witnessing an 'exponential rise' in the number of chronic cough, wheezing, upper-respiratory infections since December last year – estimating it to be almost five-fold increase, as compared to previous years.
"We see such cases every year because of winter, drop in temperature. It lasts for a month or so. But now we are in March, and still witnessing cases. This year the infection rates have been very high and we have been documenting them because these patients are getting admitted," said Dr Jayalakshmi TK of Apollo Hospitals Mumbai, a pulmonologist with over 25 years of experience, told FIT.