E-Paper
K’taka revises discharge policy to detect black fungus cases
Bengaluru The Karnataka government on Wednesday said that it has formulated a new discharge policy for Covid-19 persons to help detect any possibilities of Mucormycosis, more commonly known as black fungus cases in the state
Bengaluru The Karnataka government on Wednesday said that it has formulated a new discharge policy for Covid-19 persons to help detect any possibilities of Mucormycosis, more commonly known as black fungus cases in the state.
The decision came after Dr K Sudhakar, Karnataka’s minister for health, family welfare and medical education, held a meeting with experts on the topic amid a rise in cases of black fungus.
“There is more clarity now after meeting with experts. It has been found that administering steroids in the first week of treatment of Covid-19 is one of the main causes of black fungus infection. We need to avoid this and steroids should be administered only from the second week,” Sudhakar said in a statement on Wednesday.
He added that there are around 95 known cases of black fungus being treated in Bengaluru, of which 75 have either uncontrolled diabetes or have been administered steroids during Covid treatment.
Karnataka has formed a task force dedicated to black fungus, under the chairmanship of Dr HS Satish, and ENT specialist at government-run Victoria Hospital. There are nearly 481 persons known to have contracted black fungus and are being treated in Karnataka, according to information shared by the Centre. There are at least two suspected cases of white fungus in Belagavi, about 500 kms from Bengaluru.
Several states including Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan among others have reported a sharp increase black fungus cases, which can be fatal in the third stage when it enters the brain if not detected and treated early.
He said that the discharge policy will include a provision in which recovered Covid patients will be subjected to further tests for black fungus and even an MRI scan, if necessary. “After one week of discharge, Covid recovered persons should get themselves tested here or they can also get a tele-consultation. Every Covid recovered person will be contacted to check for any symptoms of fungus infection. If symptoms are found they will be called to hospitals for further diagnosis,” the minister said.
He added that post-recovery, the patients will be contacted for nearly two weeks based on their condition.
“It has been found in a preliminary report that the infection is reported in small hospitals, taluk hospitals and those under home isolation in some cases. We will get more clarity in the final report,” he added.
Meanwhile, union minister for chemicals and fertilizers, DV Sadananda Gowda said that the Centre had made more allocations of 29,250 vials of Amphotericin B, a drug used to treat black fungus.
“Additional 29,250 vials of #Amphotericin- B drug, used in treatment of #Mucormycosis, have been allocated to all the states/UTs today. The allocation has been made based on the number of patients under treatment which is 11,717 across the country,” Gowda said in a post on Twitter. Of this Karnataka has received 1,221 vials, according to the information shared by the Union minister.
