Kolkata hospitals are reporting a 6% to 25% rise in lung disease admissions compared with last year, with doctors describing more severe influenza and respiratory infections that are continuing from summer into the monsoon season. Several hospitals have reported full pulmonology intensive care units, increased oxygen and ventilatory support, and a sustained flow of patients since June.
Pulmonologists told the Times of India that the increase has been recorded across outpatient and inpatient departments. Sujan Bardhan, consultant pulmonologist at Narayana RN Tagore Hospital, said admissions with lung infections had risen by about 6% to 7% compared with previous years. He also reported that some patients who previously had minimal or intermittent bronchospastic symptoms had progressed to full-blown asthma.
At Charnock Hospital, doctors said the flow of lung patients had not fallen since an influenza outbreak began in June. The hospital currently has 15 patients admitted with lung-related illnesses, including several in the intensive care unit. Soumya Sengupta, head of pulmonology at the hospital, said admissions had risen by 8% to 10% over last year and that influenza and cough-and-cold infections were more frequently progressing to severe pneumonia requiring oxygen support and intensive care.
Sengupta attributed the severity to more severe influenza strains that have been dominant after the Covid period, rather than accepting a direct link to a decline in immunity after Covid. He said influenza vaccination had helped some patients experience milder disease and that the hospital had saved vaccinated patients who otherwise might have developed more serious illness. The Times of India report attributed a claim of high mortality among severe patients to Sengupta, but did not provide a hospital-wide case denominator or further breakdown of those cases.
The highest increase cited in the report came from CMRI, where the number of lung disease patients was said to be 25% higher than last year. Raja Dhar, the hospital’s pulmonology director, linked the rise to influenza and other viruses during a prolonged rainy season. He said these infections were spreading faster and affecting more people, while the hospital’s pulmonology ICUs had remained consistently full. Dhar advised masks, hand hygiene and vaccination, and urged elderly people with a history of lung disease to take additional precautions.
BP Poddar Hospital’s chest clinic outpatient department recorded an almost 20% rise in patient load over last year, along with a similar increase in admissions, according to pulmonologist Abhishek Kolay. He said patients were presenting with persistent cough, wheezing and acute flare-ups of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Kolay added that some patients with previous Covid or other prolonged respiratory illnesses appeared to have more sensitive airways, while cautioning that the current increase could not be directly attributed to Covid.
Doctors also reported a rise in severe cases among elderly and immunosuppressed patients. Bardhan said Influenza A infections had increased sharply since last year, with some patients developing Type 1 respiratory failure requiring invasive or non-invasive ventilation. BP Poddar Group adviser Supriyo Chakrabarty said respiratory cases had remained high from summer through the monsoon rather than being confined to a short seasonal peak. Hospitals are advising residents to use masks in crowded settings, maintain hand hygiene and consider influenza vaccination, particularly for vulnerable groups.
