Dr Vikas Maurya, consultant Respiratory Medicine at BLK Super Speciality Hospital, said, “After Diwali, there is 30 per cent increase in the patients complaining for respiratory diseases and majority of them are children and senior citizens.”

As the PM 2.5 and PM 10 are touching a new high every day, the number of patients is likely to go up. People are suffering from allergies, irritation in eyes and throat, added Dr Maurya.

Early onset of winter is another reason for people falling ill. According to a study conducted by Department of Rheumatology of AIIMS, out of 500 males and females residing in Delhi for more than 10 years, 65 males and 432 females respectively suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) due to bad air quality.

“Swollen, tender joints and increased duration of early morning stiffness are some of the symptoms of the disease,” said Dr Uma Kumar, Professor and HoD, Rheumatology, at AIIMS, adding, “We collected the data of air quality from IMD in New Delhi for past few years and co- related with the patients who got the treatment here. It found that when the particulate matter in air was high, then number of patients also increased.”

It was also found that, people staying in Delhi for more than 10 years also show the evidence of autoimmunity.

“Also, the presence of auto-antibody has been found in the blood of normal healthy individuals living in Delhi for more than 10 years. From January to September 2015, AIIMS has witnessed over 24,000 cases of rheumatological disorder.

The situation is same in all Government and private hospitals across the city as OPDs for respiratory and arthritis problems are flooded with patients these days. Health officials say people suffering from lung-related diseases such as asthma, bronchitis have their lives at risk due to the bad air quality. For them, it is necessary to wear N95 respirator masks whenever they step outside.