350 Black Fungus Cases Reported in Telangana

Hyderabad: About 350 patients in Telangana are suffering from black fungus or mucormycosis, a fungal infection among patients who recovered or are recovering from Covid. Based on the caseload, the Union Ministry for Chemicals and Fertilizers on Saturday released 890 vials of Amphotericin-B, the vital anti-fungal drive needed for treatment. These are in addition to 1,050 vials allotted earlier by the Union Health Ministry.

On Saturday, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers DV Sadananda Gowda announced that due to the rising cases of mucormycosis (black fungus) across the country, 23,680 additional vials of Amphotericin-B were allocated to all States.

Gowda said 75 per cent of Amphotericin-B vials had already been allocated to Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan while the rest would be released after the verification of patient numbers.

According to health authorities here, currently, about 50 mucormycosis patients are receiving treatment at Koti ENT Hospital and another 250 in private and government healthcare facilities in the districts.

Senior health officials also pointed out that in the coming days, the number of patients is likely to increase and reach the 500-mark.

“A large cohort of patients infected during the second wave has recently recovered, and there is a possibility that some of these will get the fungal infection,” they said.

The challenges in treating mucormycosis patients in Telangana could become tougher in the coming days, as the caseload in the neighbouring States is also very high. Maharashtra has about 2,000 fungal infection cases, followed by Andhra Pradesh (950) and Karnataka (500).

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