‘Black fungus’ new scare Indian second wave of COVID waves | Coronavirus pandemic News

COVID-19 was the second devastating wave of floods on Tuesday with less than 100,000 new cases as India struggles with a new fear: Mucormycosis, commonly called a “black fungus”, is a rare fungal disease with a high death rate.

On Monday, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the country had more than 28,000 cases of fungal infection.

“We have 28,252 cases of mucormycosis in 28 states so far. 86%, or 24,370 cases, have a history of COVID-19 and 62.3 percent, or 17,601, have a history of diabetes,” Vardhan said at a meeting with a group of federal ministers.

“The highest number of cases (6,329) has been recorded in Maharashtran, followed by Gujarat with 5,486 and then Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Karnataka, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh,” he said.

What is a black fungus?

Mucormycosis blackens or stains the nose, causing blurred or double vision, chest pain, difficulty breathing, and coughing up blood. Coronavirus patients with diabetes and a weakened immune system are more likely to attack.

Pain and redness around the eyes or nose, fever, headache, cough, respiratory ecstasy, bloody vomiting and altered mental state are some of its symptoms.

Health experts say India’s poor air quality and excessive dust in cities, such as Mumbai, make it easier for fungi to thrive, saying the latest outbreak is a “serious concern”.

“We and most major hospitals have seen more cases of mucormycosis than in the previous five years,” Dr. Arvinder Soin, president of the Medanta Liver Transplant Institute in Gurugram, told Al Jazeera.

Although black fungus has been found in India, the current point of infection is between people infected with COVID-19 and those cured of the disease.

Dr. Sumit Mrig, head of the ORL department at Max Smart Super Specialty Hospital in New Delhi, told Al Jazeera that one or two of these cases were usually seen a week before the second wave of the pandemic.

“The numbers have increased tremendously this time around and today we see five or six such patients every day,” Mrig said.

He said the outbreak had “put tremendous pressure on health infrastructure”, especially in the availability of amphotericin-B in liposomes, a last-line drug used to treat black fungus and “a sudden shortage in the country”. .

“In addition to the high mortality associated with a disease that spreads rapidly from the nose and sinuses to the eyes and brain within 24 to 48 hours, if treatment is not started in time, the patient may lose vision. When it takes the brain, mortality is about 80 percent,” Mrig added.

How is the infection treated?

Liposomal amphotericin-B is routed to states by the federal government based on the number of cases reported by them.

Several states have complained of a shortage of essential drugs as Indian missions around the world make efforts to secure supplies. India last week imposed an export of amphotericin-B injections.

Opposition parties, including members of Congress, have questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the black mushroom scare.

“What is being done because of the shortage of amphotericin B drugs? What is the procedure for taking this medication to the patient? Congressman Rahul Gandhi asked in a tweet last week.

“Instead of giving treatment, why is the public being processed by the government?” he published.

A doctor performs an endoscopic symptom on a patient with mucormycosis at a private hospital in Ghaziabad on the outskirts of New Delhi. [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]

Also last week, the Delhi Court directed the federal government to complete a policy on the distribution of the drug Liposomal Amphotericin B.

The court also said the drug administration should be “prioritized” as “the younger generation with better chances of survival, the promise of the future over the elderly who have lived their lives.”

‘Steroids make things worse’

Dr. Medanta of the hospital said that in the second wave of COVID, it recovers from fungal infection and affects coronavirus patients in three to six weeks, most of whom have uncontrolled diabetes or have been treated with steroids.

“Although steroids save lives for many patients with KOVID, many cases could be prevented if diabetes is better controlled and steroid use is reduced,” he told Al Jazeera.

Dr. Jayaprakash Muliyil, an epidemiologist at Christian Medical College in southern Tamil Nadu, said the irregularity of access to diabetic patients is likely due to mucormycosis.

“When a patient is diabetic and is admitted to the room, blood sugar is usually monitored over and over again and the required dose of any drug is monitored. During COVID these protocols are not fully complied with in many hospitals. That may be one of the reasons,” he said.

“When blood sugar is out of control and them [patients] they’re on steroids, which makes it worse. ”

Experts suggest that high-risk diabetics who have recovered from COVID-19 should be careful and that the red flag should be reported immediately to an ENT surgeon.

“If we keep the sugar level of COVID-19 patients under control, I don’t think you’re going to have this problem and we can do that.” Dr. Muliyil said.