UP cities witness rise in black fungus cases
A black fungus patient died in Lucknow while 11 fresh patients were admitted to the KGMU
LUCKNOW/AGRA/PRAYAGRAJ/ VARANASI: Several cities in Uttar Pradesh are witnessing a steady rise in the dreaded mucormycosis or black fungus cases, with the total case count in the state touching 581. Twenty deaths have also been reported till now.
To note, the UP government has declared black fungus as a notifiable disease.
In the state capital, a black fungus patient died while 11 fresh patients were admitted to the King George’s Medical University. With this, the total number of patients in the KGMU here has reached 135. Doctors operated on 19 patients to remove dead tissues. “A 58-year-old patient of black fungus died during treatment,” said Dr Sudhir Singh, spokesperson KGMU.
Elsewhere, the number of black fungus patients admitted to SN Medical College and Hospital in Agra increased to 20 on Sunday, while two patients were admitted to Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital (SRNH) in Prayagraj and were being treated in isolation, said officials.
In Varanasi, 78 patients were under treatment at Sir Sundar Lal (SSL) Hospital, IMS-BHU.
Dr Sanjay Kala, principal, SN Medical College and Hospital, Agra, said, “Out of the 20 cases, 12 are in serious condition. In fact, five of these 12 cases are critical. They are admitted to different wards.”
In view of rising cases, the hospital authorities are planning to increase the number of beds to 100.
“We are constantly getting patients with complaint of black fungus and most of them are coming from nursing homes in Agra and nearby districts with serious complications,” said Dr Kala.
“In view of sharp rise in cases, we plan to enhance the number of beds to 100 in days ahead,” he said.
In Varanasi, the first patient of black fungus was admitted to Sir Sundar Lal (SSL) Hospital, IMSBHU on April 24.
“So far, 84 patients have been admitted to the SSL hospital. At present, 78 patients are under treatment while six have died. Four black fungus deaths were reported in the past two days, two each on Saturday and Sunday while the rest two occurred two weeks ago.
“The black fungus patients who died had comorbidities,” said Prof KK Gupta, medical superintendent of the hospital, on Sunday.
A team of 18 doctors from various departments of IMS-BHU had been constituted for treating black fungus patients, he said.
He said, “The specialists are providing proper treatment to the black fungus patients admitted here.
A total of 78 patients are under treatment in post-Covid and Covid wards here. Of them, 39 black fungus patients are Covid positive.”
Prof Gupta said the remaining 39 were admitted to the post Covid ward. These patients had recovered from Covid-19 and suffered black fungus thereafter.
In Prayagraj, five black fungus patients are undergoing treatment at SRN hospital at present. They include patients from other districts as well, according to officials.
Dr Sujeet Verma, the nodal officer of corona ward at SRN hospital, said the two new cases in the hospital included a man from Dhumanganj and another from Koraon development block.
“We have isolated the patients and started anti-fungal treatment as per the set treatment protocol,” said Dr Verma.
Earlier, two black fungus cases were reported by two private hospitals of the city. One confirmed case was also operated upon at MD Eye Hospital four days back.