New Delhi (NVI): ‘Black Fungus’ or “Mucormycosis’ is showing an alarming rise in the country, with nearly 9,000 people having been infected and over 200 people perishing due to the deadly infection found in Covid-recovered patients.
Amidst this steep rise, the central government today said it has allotted to the states and UTs more than 23,680 additional vials of Amphotericin-B drug required for treatment of the infection.
Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers D V Sadananda Gowda, whose ministry is responsible for the pharmaceutical sector, said the allocation has been made “based on total number of patients which is approximately 8848 across the country”.
Over 200 have already died because of this deadly infection.
“After a detailed review of rising number of cases of Mucormycosis in various states, a total of 23680 additional vials of Amphotericin-B have been allocated to all States/UTs today,” Gowda tweeted.
The ‘Black Fungus’ causes blurred or double vision, chest pain and breathing difficulties, mostly seen in COVID-19 patients who have recovered. An infected person can die within days but it is not contagious, according to the doctors.
The cases of ‘Black Fungus’ have been increasingly sharply over the last few days, with Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh accounting for nearly 60 per cent of the total infections in the country.
According to the latest data, Gujarat accounts for the highest number of 2281 reported infections, while Maharashtra has 2000 and Andhra Pradesh 910.
There are reports of shortages of the medicine required to treat Black Fungus and the government has allowed 11 pharmaceutical companies to manufacture the relevant drugs.
According to doctors, ‘Black Fungus’ is inducted due to heavy use of steroids to treat Covid which weakens the immune system of a person.
