IIT-K student dies of black fungus
: A PhD student at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) succumbed to mucormycosis or black fungus, a post Covid-19 complication, at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) in Lucknow on Tuesday morning.
“Kavindra Kumar Chaturvedi, 28, a PhD student in the department of Aerospace Engineering at IIT-Kanpur succumbed to mucormycosis,” tweeted IITK director, Abhay Karandikar.
“Sad day today! We lost a bright and promising student. A resident of Faizabad, Kavindra succumbed to mucormycosis as post Covid19 related complication. He was admitted to SGPGI Lucknow,”IITK director tweeted.
“We did everything to save him including arranging medicines through a board member (an IITK alumnus) of a pharmaceutical company but despite best efforts by his doctors, family, friends and the institute, he could not be saved,” director tweeted. Kavindra was enrolled in PhD in 2019 and got married in September 2020. His wife is a homemaker. He postgraduated from MNNIT, Allahabad. He was a bright and promising student, said Girish Pant, PRO, IIT-K.
According to PGI officials the patient was operated to control spread of black fungus within 48 hours.
“But he suffered brain infarction due to Covid and died on Tuesday morning,” said Prof Amit Keshri, nodal officer of the 12-member committee of doctors on Covid cases associated with mucormycosis.
This was the first casualty among students at IIT-K. There are 8300 students on campus.
“The second wave of Covid19 has been terrible. Personally, I have lost friends and relatives, but loss of a young student is very devastating,” IITK director said. IIT-K has started a Covid-19 relief fund to provide financial aid to students who are facing medical emergencies.
“The campus community has been helping these students on an individual basis too. We have been seeing an increase in the number of requests seeking financial aid over the last few days and it’s likely to go up in near future,” said dean, resources and alumni, Jayant K Singh.
The institute has also created a portal where students and supporting staff can submit their applications with necessary documents.
ACCORDING TO PGI OFFICIALS, THE PATIENT WAS OPERATED TO CONTROL SPREAD OF BLACK FUNGUS WITHIN 48 HOURS. BUT HE SUFFERED BRAIN INFARCTION DUE TO COVID AND DIED ON TUESDAY MORNING