Struggle of mucormycosis patients continues
MUMBAI: Bhaidas Mali, 35, a police sub-inspector with the Maharashtra police is currently waiting to undergo plastic surgery to reconstruct his palate at Global Hospital in Parel. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic’s second wave last year, Mali was diagnosed with mucormycosis – commonly known as black fungal infection – within a month of recovering from Covid-19 in March 2021.
Mucormycosis is caused by a group of moulds called mucormycetes that are present in the environment. These fungi attack those battling illnesses like Covid-19, when the body’s immunity is at its lowest. The infection invades facial bones and eye orbit and even reaches the brain. The black fungus can lead to visual loss, severe disfigurement and also death.“Post diagnosis, I underwent three surgeries to remove the infection. A major part of my palate was removed along with nine teeth,” said the Nashik resident, who spent three-and-a-half months in three hospitals across Maharashtra.
Mali, who resumed work in August, now uses an artificial palate and has spent ₹63 lakh so far on his treatment.
In May 2021, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) declared mucormycosis as a ‘notifiable disease’ under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, due to the resurgence of Covid cases. Since May 2021, the state has recorded 10,871 mucormycosis cases -- 976 in Mumbai -- of which 9,112 patients have been cured, 16 are undergoing treatment and 330 died due to the infection. Between January 2022 and March 2022, the state reported only 37 mucormycosis cases amid the third wave.
But for survivors like Mali, who are awaiting corrective surgeries, the struggle is far from over.Nerul resident Deepak Ayare, 55, lost his left eye and palate to the infection in 2021. A non-diabetic, Ayare’s sugar levels shot up when he was infected with Covid-19. He was subsequently diagnosed with mucormycosis. Seven months after the surgery, Ayare got a temporary palate in November and subsequently resumed work. “For those 7 months, I was on a liquid diet and only my wife could understand what I was speaking. I would otherwise communicate with sign language or write,” recalled Ayare, who is the vicepresident of a bank.