Rawalpindi: Serious respiratory tract infections including influenza, pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a life-threatening lung injury, have started hitting the population in this region of the country after the setting in of winter as the healthcare facilities both in public and private sectors are receiving patients with the problems.
Both pneumonia, infection in the lung, and ARDS are more fatal forms of respiratory tract infections, which claim a good number of lives every year in the region particularly from October to December. Many health experts believe that the losses due to influenza, pneumonia, and ARDS can be minimised by creating sufficient awareness among the public.
It is worth mentioning here that the ARDS, which allows fluid to leak into the lungs, claims well over 100 lives almost every year from October to December at the public sector hospitals of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi only. ARDS is a type of respiratory failure characterized by rapid onset of widespread inflammation in the lungs. The ARDS patients face breathing difficulties.
Health experts say that the number of deaths due to pneumonia and ARDS is high mainly because the majority of our population do not take proper measures to avoid respiratory tract infections. Most people who get ARDS are those who are hospitalized for trauma or injury. Sepsis, pneumonia, smoke or chemical inhalation are among the causes of ARDS.
In dry and cold weather conditions, like the existing one, the atmosphere is filled with pollutants including dust, toxins and harmful particles and breathing in injurious substances including dense smoke and chemical fumes triggers RTIs and ARDS.
Experts say that all patients with cough, fever, lethargy and thick viscid sputum for over three days should undergo a thorough check up and chest X-RAY to avoid complications of RTIs. People must be aware of the fact that ARDS is the most fatal and dangerous complication of pneumonia. It is a condition in which a patient with chest infection becomes unable to maintain oxygen level due to lungs’ dysfunction. The accumulation of fluid and secretions in airspaces impair the transfer of oxygen to the blood in the body.
Health experts say that the majority of the patients of ARDS reported in the previous years were the ones having flu, pneumonia, chest infections, Covid or such ailments. Studies reveal that the ARDS patient has severe air hunger and suffocation that abruptly starts within a few hours and progresses rapidly. Experts say that patients having such symptoms must report to the nearest hospital for management.
It is believed that the only way out for an ARDS patient is a high index of suspicion, early diagnosis and immediate treatment in an ICU setting. It is also important that the ARDS patient needs ICU care generally for four weeks afterwards recovery starts and complete cure takes three to six months on average. The available data reveals that mortality after developing ARDS ranges from 90 to 100 per cent in non-ventilated patients in Pakistan.
