Delhi sees dip in Covid-19 cases but rise in 'black fungus' infections

While Delhi has witnessed a dip in Covid-19 cases, a new challenge has come up for the capital in the form of rising 'black fungus' infections, also called mucormycosis.

At least 185 people contracted the 'black fungus' infection after getting Covid-19 and are admitted in seven hospitals in Delhi. Due to the rapid increase in the number of mucormycosis cases, there is now a shortage of medicine used to treat the infection.

On Wednesday, there were 61 mucormycosis patients getting treatment at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Sir Ganga Ram hospital was treating 69 more. In the past, AIIMS used to get only 12-15 patients having the 'black fungus' infection in a year.

Read: Declare Black Fungus an epidemic, Union Health Ministry urges states

“We are seeing a high number of mucormycosis, probably because of two reasons. One, this wave of Covid-19 was massive in comparison to last year; and two, the treatment protocol has evolved since last year. While the evidence shows that steroids make a difference in Covid-19 patients, they were used beyond the recommended guidelines,” Dr Alok Thakar, head of the ENT department at AIIMS, told Hindustan Times.

While Sir Ganga Ram hospital had received 10 cases of this infection in two weeks in December, the same has increased manifold in recent past.

“We have seen almost 100 cases of the infection from May 7 or 8. Several smaller hospitals across the city are also referring patients to us,” told Dr Ajay Swaroop, head of the ENT department at Sir Ganga Ram hospital.

People with uncontrolled diabetes, low immunity, and those given excessive steroids are usually at higher risk of the 'black fungus' infection. According to doctors, some Covid-19 patients got infected after taking steroids at home without any medical consultation.

Dr Sumit Mrig, head of the ENT department at Max hospital, Saket, told the publication, “People have been taking steroids at home without supervision; many of them were pre-diabetic and not aware of their sugar levels, thus, causing mucormycosis.”

Due to the sudden rise in 'black fungus' cases, the demand for the drug Amphotericin B has also gone up. It is the only drug that can treat this fungal infection.

To prevent black-marketing and overuse of the drug, Satyendar Jain, Delhi health minister said, “The treatment of the infection can be done only in hospitals, so the drug is directly being given to hospitals.”