Amphotericin B drug out of stock, lament attendants
LUCKNOW : As cases of black fungus rise across the city, Lucknow is facing shortage of Amphotericin B injections that are used to treat the infection. A number of attendants going to the Red Cross office here to collect the drug for their patients are returning empty handed.
Sample this: Kamla Devi, 50, of Basti is undergoing treatment for black fungus at CNS Hospital in Indira Nagar.
Five days back, doctors prescribed Amphotericin B injection for her, but her brother, Falakdhar, is unable to get the injection despite visiting the Red Cross office every day (after completing all the formalities). He lamented, “My sister is dying in the absence of this injection. Doctors are trying their best with alternative medicines, but her survival depends on this injection.”
Jaimin Jaiswal, a resident of Deoria, admitted to SIPS Hospital, also requires the injection for her survival, said Rohan Jaiswal, her attendant.
“I have been coming to the Red Cross office for the last four days to get an injection. But I get the same reply that the injection is out of stock,” he said.
However, officials at the CMO office and Red Cross office refused to comment over the issue. Red Cross officials, however, admitted that no injection was distributed on
Tuesday.
An official of the CMO office said the injection would be distributed as soon as they arrive in the city.
The process to procure the drug was on, he added.
Meanwhile, two patients succumbed to black fungus in Lucknow on Tuesday.
These included a PhD student at IIT-Kanpur and a 55-year-old man from Bihar who died at the PGI KGMU, respectively.
At present, 240 patients were undergoing treatment for black fungus in various city hospitals. Till now, Lucknow had seen 21 deaths due to the infection.
During the last 24 hours, 10 patients of black fungus were admitted to the KGMU. So far, 159 patients were admitted to this medical university.
Three new patients of black fungus were admitted to the PGI on Tuesday, taking the number of black fungus patients here to 27, as per official data.
“Till now, more than 60 patients have been operated upon for black fungus at KGMU,” said Dr Sudhir Singh, spokesperson, KGMU. and
BLACK FUNGUS CLAIMED 2 MORE LIVES IN LUCKNOW, 240 PATIENTS UNDERGOING TREATMENT IN HOSPITALS