E-Paper
Himachal Pradesh notifies black fungus as epidemic
All health institutions will report each suspected or confirmed case of mucormycosis to the health department through the chief medical officer
The Himachal Pradesh government has notified mucormycosis, commonly known as black fungus, as an epidemic for a year after it reported its first such case on Thursday.
Issuing the notification under the Epidemic Disease Act, governor Bandaru Dattatreya cited the threat of the outbreak of mucormycosis among immune-compromised Covid-19 patients being treated with steroids in neighbouring states.
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According to the regulation, all healthcare facilities will follow the guidelines for screening, diagnosis and management of mucormycosis, issued by the Union health ministry and the state government from time to time. They will report every suspected or confirmed case of black fungus to the health department through the chief medical officer (CMO).
No person, institution or organisation will spread any information or material for management of mucormycosis without the state health department’s permission.
A committee, chaired by the CMO, will be set up in each district. It will have specialists of internal medicine, ophthalmology, ENT and epidemiology as members and will review any disobeying of the notification by any person, institution or organisation. A notice will be issued by the CMO in such a case and the reply will be reviewed by the committee. If it is not received within the stipulated time or if the reply is found unsatisfactory or if it is confirmed that the person/institution/organisation has disobeyed the regulation, the CMO will take necessary action.
Any violation of the regulation shall be punishable under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.
