Absolutely — and this is one of the most important diagnostic distinctions I make at Pulmovista Clinics every week. Chronic PM2.5 exposure causes airway inflammation that produces cough, breathlessness, and sputum production that is clinically indistinguishable from early bronchitis or mild pneumonia on history alone. This is why Delhi patients are among the most antibiotic-over-treated in the world — pollution symptoms are routinely diagnosed as chest infections and treated with antibiotics that provide no benefit. A chest X-ray, CRP, and the clinical response to bronchodilators versus antibiotics help me distinguish true infection from pollution-driven airway inflammation at Pulmovista.