Winter season mixed with high pollution levels has led to an increase in flu cases in Delhi-NCR.

Doctors said while the spike is seen every year with the dip in temperature, the number of chest infections is more than usual this time, as reported by IndianExpress.

Even as hospitalisation rate is not very high, several people are queuing up for consultations online and in OPDs, they added.

Doctors said a majority of these patients are suffering from Influenza A H1N1 virus, some with H3N2 virus, and others with chest infections aggravated by H1N1 and other viral and bacterial infections. 'Hospitalisation due to chest infections is not alarming and is mostly seen elderly patients who had some kind of comorbid condition which was aggravated by H1N1, Covid and other bacterial infections,' said Dr Vikas Maurya, head of the Pulmonology Department at Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh.

Runny nose, sneezing, cough, breathlessness, throat pain and diarrhoea have been majorly reported in patients. Some also reported low oxygen and shortness of breath due to which they have been hospitalised.

At Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine, also blamed pollution mixed with winter for the problem. 'People who had Covid in the past are also affected as they have compromised lungs,' he added.

Dr Chatterjee said there has been a rise in hospitalisation of patients with chest infections: '… This was expected during winters but they are more as compared to usual numbers. If one has low oxygen then hospitalisation is required,' he added.

According to Dr Lalit Dar, Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology at AIIMS Delhi, what is being witnessed presently is Influenza A H1N1, which is not considered as a pandemic strain. 'It is one of the seasonal influenza strains. We are seeing a large number of influenza H1N1 cases and occasional cases of influenza B. So that is what is probably responsible for this,' he said.