UP govt declares black fungus a notifiable disease

CM asks officials to collect all relevant details like full case history and line of treatment of all the patients who are under treatment for black fungus

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government has declared mucormycosis (black fungus), a life-threatening fungal infection increasingly seen in Covid-19 patients, a notifiable disease following the central government’s Thursday advisory.

The move comes after chief minister Yogi Adityanath asked the officers concerned to take necessary action and issue the relevant order on Friday itself.

The chief minister also asked them to collect all relevant details like full case history and line of treatment of all the patients who were under treatment for black fungus in government hospitals, medical colleges, or private hospitals and submit them to the black fungus medical expert committee. “This will help the experts in evolving a better line of treatment for the disease”, Yogi said.

Telangana, Odisha, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Gujarat have already declared black fungus a notifiable disease since the central government issued the advisory to the states.

Uttar Pradesh has already reported 289 cases of black fungus infection in post-Covid patients of which eight have died. A notifiable disease is any disease that is required by law to be reported to government authorities. This allows the authorities to monitor the disease and provides early warning of possible outbreaks.

The Centre wrote a letter to all the states and union territories on Thursday, asking them to declare mucormycosis or black fungus a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897.

At the Covid review meeting with Team-9 Yogi said: “The state government, after consultation with the medical experts’ panel, is making arrangements for suitable treatment of black fungus cases. Following the advisory of the central government, black fungus should be declared notifiable diseases. The officers concerned should issue the order and make it effective today itself.”

Yogi said that arrangements should also be made to ensure sufficient availability of drugs for black fungus’ treatment in all districts of the state.

At the meeting, the officers told the chief minister that all districts had been provided drugs for mucormycosis treatment. The patients who were undergoing black fugus treatment in private hospitals may also get the medicines by applying to the divisional commissioner concerned.

Mucormycosis is commonly seen in Covid-19 patients who are in the recovery phase of the disease. It usually infects people whose immune system has been compromised due to co-morbidities such as diabetes, kidney or heart failure or cancer.

The symptoms of the fungal infection include blackening or discolouration over the nose, blurred or double vision, chest pain, breathing difficulties and coughing blood.