9 patients operated for black fungus in Jammu
Jammu: Nine patients have been operated for black fungus or mucormycosis in the Government Medical College and hospital here during the past 10 days, officials said on Saturday.
Various surgical procedures like endoscopic approach, open and combined approach were done to treat such patients by the department of ENT and head-neck surgery, they said.
According to specialists, who managed patients with black fungus at the hospital, it was tracked down that the greater part of these cases was found in Covid-recovered patients.
They said that with a prolonged high dose of steroids given during Covid treatment, the fungus effectively enters the body through the nose of patients with comorbidities like diabetes, malignancy and low immunity.
The fungus later contaminates the eyes and brain, making the patient lose sight or life, the specialists said.
However, they said the patients are responding to the treatment positively after their surgeries.
The Principal of GMC, when contacted, said, “We have only one confirmed case of black fungus death so far, while several others, both confirmed and suspected cases, are undergoing treatment at the hospital.”
Jammu and Kashmir recorded the first black fungus death on May 21 when a 40-year-old patient died within hours of his admission at the hospital.
Three days later, the Jammu and Kashmir administration declared mucormycosis an epidemic, making it mandatory for all government and private health facilities and medical colleges to report suspected and confirmed cases to the Health department through district-level officers and the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP).
