Punjab on Saturday reported its first case of green fungus (Aspergillosis) in a recovered COVID-19 patient at a private hospital in Jalandhar.
"We've received first confirmed case of green fungus. Patient had recovered from COVID-19, he is under observation, can't say stable though. There was another case before, but it was unconfirmed," Jalandhar Civil Hospital's District Epidemiologist Dr Paramvir Singh told news agency ANI.
According to a report by the Indian Express, a 62-year-old man from Rayya in Amritsar, who complained of a cough and was admitted to the Sacred Heart Hospital, tested positive for the disease on Saturday.
When he was initially admitted to the hospital, the doctors thought he had tuberculosis, however, after an investigation report came in the doctors got to know that it was a case of green fungus.
The patient got infected with COVID-19 around three months back and was treated at a private hospital in Ludhiana, where he was on oxygen support for a long time. Post-Covid he developed cough and other complications and was readmitted to a hospital in Jalandhar.
Meanwhile, a few days ago, a 34-year-old COVID-19 survivor was diagnosed with green fungus infection in Madhya Pradesh's Indore and was shifted to Mumbai by air ambulance for treatment.
Dr Ravi Dosi, head of the Department of Chest Diseases, Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences (SAIMS) told PTI that the man, who had recovered from COVID-19, underwent a test on suspicion that he had contracted the dreaded black fungus infection (mucormycosis).
But he was instead found to have green fungus (Aspergillosis) infection in his sinuses, lungs and blood.
More research was needed on whether the nature of green fungus infection in people who have recovered from COVID-19 is different from other patients, Dr Dosi said.
The patient was airlifted to Mumbai on Monday and admitted to a hospital there, he said.
The man was admitted to a local hospital two months ago with almost 100 percent coronavirus infection in the lungs and was treated in the ICU for about a month.
(With inputs from PTI)
