BHOPAL: ‘Black fungal infection’ treatment units with operation theatres (OTs) will be opened in Bhopal and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. Patients are getting infected with ‘black fungal infection’ during Covid treatment due to overdose of steroids. Doctors are removing the infected parts, such as the eyes, palate, jaws and so forth, before the infection reaches the brain. Even deaths have been reported from Jabalpur due to ‘black fungal infection’. There will be separate OTs for those who become Covid-negative after treatment. According to health experts, the symptoms of mucormycosis include headache, fever, pain under the eyes, nasal or sinus congestion and partial loss of vision.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, at a review meeting, said, “There’s no need to panic regarding black fungal infection. Treatment is easy in the early stages of the infection. The government will cooperate with poor patients in their treatment as injections and medicines are costly. The jaws, nose, eyes, brain and other organs are infected in ‘black fungal infection’. So far, 50 black fungal infection cases have come to notice in Madhya Pradesh.”
Besides, DME minister Vishwas Sarang convened a meeting at Gandhi Medical College for discussion on the treatment methods of ‘black fungal infection’. The minister spoke to US-based doctor Manoj Jain regarding treatment of ‘black fungal infection’ or ‘mucormycosis’, which is spreading fast among Covid patients. A number of cases of fungal infection among Covid-19 patients have also been reported in neighbouring Maharashtra and Gujarat. "A team of doctors from the government-run Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal will interact with their counterparts in the US via video conference to discuss steps to check the spread of the fungal infection," Sarang said.
The minister held a meeting with officials of various government and private medical colleges on Tuesday evening and it was suggested that a protocol be laid down for the treatment of the fungal infection. They also discussed ways to deal with a possible third wave of coronavirus.
Sarang said during the meeting that they discussed arrangements to be made to check the viral infection among children and to ensure availability of necessary medicines and resources to deal with the problem.
They also discussed steps to raise the number of beds in the intensive-care units (ICUs) and high-dependency units (HDUs) for Covid-19 patients and ways to develop an effective IT solution to monitor patients in home isolation, he said.
In the Medical Colleges of Bhopal and Jabalpur, there will be 10 beds in each unit to treat this disease. The OTs will be well-staffed with medical experts for surgery. A team of doctors from four departments—ENT, ophthalmology, medicine, and neurology—will be working at these units.
However, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICRM), in its guidelines, has stressed the dangers of the unhygienic condition of oxygen masks and they need daily replacement, besides the use of fresh water in the oxygen supply. Second, frequent endoscopy of the nasal areas has been recommended to check the spread of fungal infection. The ICMR, in its findings, said that it had noticed that overdose of steroid and oxygen provides favourable conditions for fungal growth. Steroid enhances the sugar level in the body and lowers the immune system.
Health experts recently warned of a third wave of the coronavirus infection in the country, which could also affect children.
