Three black fungus cases reported in Karnataka
May 17, 2021
Bagalkot [Karnataka] [India], May 17 : Karnataka's Bagalkot administration on Monday informed that three black fungus cases have been found in patients recovering from COVID-19.
According to the Bagalkot Health officer Dr Ananth Desai, out of three patients one patient is being treated in Bagalkot government hospital while the other two at the private hospital.
"Black fungus infection is being found in three recovering covid patients. Among three infected one person is being treated in Bagalkot and the remaining two have opted to take treatment at their own cost in private hospitals," said Desai.
The administration also urged the state government to provide Amphotericin, a medicine required for the treatment of black fungus.
"We do not have the stock of a drug, Amphotericin, that is required to treat black fungus. We have informed the state Health ministry of the Karnataka government about it," he said.
Earlier too, a few cases of black fungus have been reported in the country including Uttarakhand, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar.
As per the Union Health Ministry, Mucormycosis or black fungus is a complication caused by fungal infection. People catch mucormycosis by coming in contact with the fungal spores in the environment. It can also develop on the skin after the fungus enters the skin through a cut, scrape, burn, or other type of skin trauma.
The disease is being detected among patients who are recovering or have recovered from COVID-19. Moreover, anyone who is diabetic and whose immune system is not functioning well needs to be on the guard against this, said the ministry. It further stated that the disease is caused by a set of micro-organisms known as mucormycetes, which are present naturally in the environment, seen mostly in soil and in decaying organic matter like leaves, compost and piles.
Over the few two days, Karnataka overtook Maharashtra as the state with the highest number of active coronavirus cases (6,00,168) in the country, the Union Health Ministry informed.
So far, 15,81,457 recoveries and 21,837 deaths have been reported in the state.
