Govt asks states to notify black fungus under Epidemic Diseases Act
The Union Health Ministry has urged the states and Union territories to make black fungus or mucormycosis a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, stating that the infection is leading to prolonged morbidity and mortality among COVID-19 patients.
In a letter, the Ministry said in recent times, a new challenge in the form of a fungal infection -- mucormycosis -has emerged and has been reported among COVID-19 patients in many states, especially those on steroid therapy and deranged sugar control.
“This fungal infection is leading to prolonged morbidity and mortality among COVID-19 patients,” Joint Secretary in the Ministry Lav Agarwal said in the letter. The treatment of this infection requires a multi-disciplinary approach consisting of eye surgeons, ENT specialists, general surgeons, neurosurgeons and dental maxillofacial surgeons, among others, and the institution of the Amphotericin-B injection as an antifungal medicine.
“You are requested to make mucormycosis a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, wherein all government and private health facilities, medical colleges will follow the guidelines for screening, diagnosis, management of mucormycosis issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the ICMR. ”And, make it mandatory for all these facilities to report all suspected and confirmed cases to the health department through the district-level chief medical officers and subsequently, to the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP),” the letter stated.