Black fungus in Madhya Pradesh: 4 from Balaghat, Damoh die, injection shortage reported

Damoh/ Balaghat (Madhya Pradesh): Four people from Damoh and Balaghat districts have died of mucormycosis, a dangerous fungal infection seen in some COVID-19 patients and those who had recovered, even as the state grapples with a shortage of injections for its treatment, officials said on Friday.

Deepak Soni (39) and Nitin Jain (30), both from Damoh, died of the infection, also called black fungus, on Thursday, after recovering from COVID-19, while Sheshram Kuchalahi (38) and Chinu Lalwani (42), the other two deceased, hail from Balaghat, officials said .

"Soni died in a hospital in Nagpur, Jain died in Damoh. Four other patients of Mucormycosis have been sent to Bhopal for treatment," Damoh ENT specialist Vishal Shukla told PTI.

Seshram died in Balaghat district hospital on Thursday, said Lanji Block Medical Officer Dr Pradeep Gedam. Lalwani died in a facility in Nagpur on Wednesday after 10 days of treatment, said Balaghat Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Manoj Pandey.

Damoh Chief Medical and Health official Sangeeta Trivedi and Pandey admitted that their districts did not have Amphetericin-B injections used to treat black fungus patients.

Earlier, on Thursday, speaking online to COVID-19 crisis management groups from Indore, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said "black fungus treatment was expensive and adequate stocks of anti-fungal injections were not available in the country and are being imported."