Battling the rise in the number of black fungus cases, city hospitals are grappling with the shortage of Amphotericin-B, a key drug to treat the deadly fungal infection.
On Saturday, Union minister of chemicals and fertilisers DV Sadananda Gowda announced allocation of 23,680 additional vials of Amphotericin-B to various states and union territories, but only 50 were for Chandigarh.
This, when 35 patients from across the region are being treated at PGIMER and another 20 at GMCH, Sector 32.
At GMCH, with the cases rising, efforts are underway to procure the drug from any available source, but there is no positive response yet, according to director-principal Dr Jasbinder Kaur.
“We have stock for only around two days, as the drug is not easily available,” she said.
“For the time being, we have sourced 50 vials from PGIMER and are not denying treatment to any patient,” said Dr Sudhir Kumar Garg, medical superintendent at the hospital.
Vinay Jain, general secretary of the Chandigarh Chemists’ Association, said previously the demand for the drug was low, so few chemists stocked it, which had suddenly resulted in its shortage in the face of high demand.
The situation is better in Panchkula, where adequate stock is available for the nine patients under treatment at various hospitals. “Among them two are from Panchkula and the rest from other states,” said Dr Jasjeet Kaur, civil surgeon, Panchkula, adding that Amphotericin was being sourced through the health department headquarters and was sufficiently available.
{{/usCountry}}The situation is better in Panchkula, where adequate stock is available for the nine patients under treatment at various hospitals. “Among them two are from Panchkula and the rest from other states,” said Dr Jasjeet Kaur, civil surgeon, Panchkula, adding that Amphotericin was being sourced through the health department headquarters and was sufficiently available.
{{/usCountry}}Mohali, too, has not reported any scarcity. Civil surgeon Adarshpal Kaur said the headquarters had been able to provide the doses required for the three patients still recuperating here.
‘Will get 2,000 vials from pvt supplier’
UT health secretary Arun Gupta said the administration was trying to procure the drug on the lines of Punjab and will be placing an order for 2,000 vials from a private supplier as the supply from the Centre will not be enough.
“As soon as we have the stocks, we will set up a centralised distribution system for hospitals,” he added.
“Liposomal Amphotericin-B is administered daily as per the patient’s weight. For instance, the daily dose will be 350mg for a patient weighing 70kg, which can be roughly fulfilled with five vials for three weeks,” said Dr Arunaloke Chakrabarti, professor and head of department of medical microbiology, PGIMER.
According to hospital director Dr Jagat Ram, among the 35 black fungus patients at the institute, 24 were Covid positive and 11 were non-Covid.
“A lot of these patients are Covid positive and diabetic, with compromised immunity. Such patients are victims of indiscriminate use of steroids and hence, develop mucormycosis even after discharge. There is a need to monitor the sugar level of patients receiving steroids during Covid treatment, which will help stem the formation of fungus,” Dr Ram added.