E-Paper
28 new cases of black fungus, 2 die
PATNA Twenty-eight new cases and two deaths due to mucormycosis or black fungus were reported in Bihar on Tuesday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 229 and deaths to seven
PATNA
Twenty-eight new cases and two deaths due to mucormycosis or black fungus were reported in Bihar on Tuesday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 229 and deaths to seven.
The two deaths were reported from Patna’s Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS), said its superintendent Dr Manish Mandal. He, however, did not share the details of the deceased.
All these cases were associated with coronavirus. While some patients had contracted the fungal infection during treatment of Covid-19, many others reported it as a post-Covid complication, said health officials.
Bihar reported 3,306 new cases of coronavirus and 104 deaths to the virus on Tuesday, taking the total number of cases so far to 6,95,726 and deaths to 4,746. Even as new infections were down, the number of deaths remained high. The state had reported 111 deaths in a single day on May 18, the highest so far this month.
Among the new cases of mucormycosis, 19 were reported at the IGIMS, two at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital (JLNMCH) in Bhagalpur, one at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Patna, and seven at different private health facilities across the state, said health officials.
IGIMS, with a total 91 patients, had the highest number of black fungus cases. AIIMS was next, having reported 61 cases so far, JLNMCH 9 and one each at the Patna Medical College Hospital, Nalanda Medical College Hospital (both in Patna), Darbhanga Medical College Hospital and the Sri Krishna Medical College Hospital in Muzaffarpur, among the government medical colleges in the state.
Paras HMRI hospital (13 patients) and Ruban Memorial Hospital were among the 12 private facilities with highest number of cases of black fungus. Cases of mucormycosis had also been reported from Purnia, Aurangabad and Nalanda.
Hike in pay of contract docs, paramedics
In the midst of the pandemic, the Bihar government on Tuesday increased by ₹25,000 the monthly remuneration of senior residents and tutors, having three years tenure post at state-run medical college and hospitals. They would now get ₹85,000 in the first year, ₹90,000 in the second and ₹95,000 in the third year.
The order comes into effect from February 25 this year.
The doctors were drawing ₹60,000 in the first year, ₹65,000 in the second and ₹70,000 in the third as per the last revision in 2017.
The revision was undertaken as the stipend of post graduate medical students at medical college hospitals was more than the senior residents and tutors, after the increase in PG stipend in January this year.
PG medicos, commonly called junior doctors, will get ₹68,545 in the first year, ₹75,399 in the second and ₹82,938 in the third year of their masters’ curriculum. Prior to the revision in January, they used to get ₹50,000, ₹55,000 and ₹60,500 in the first second and third year, respectively,
The government also increased by ₹3,000 to ₹5,000 the monthly remuneration of contractual paramedics and support staff posted at government health facilities. Among the 30 positions, include X-ray technicians, laboratory assistants, operation theatre assistants, X-ray mechanic, ECG technicians, holter and radiotherapy, dialysis, echocardiogram technicians, etc.
