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India faces "black fungus" complictions as COVID-Wave begins to flatten despite vaccine hesitancy
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New Delhi — India's health infrastructure that nearly crumbled under a catastrophic second wave of coronavirus last month, is now faced with another challenge: A deadly fungal infection called Mucormycosis, common known as "black fungus."
The country has reported more than 28,000 cases of the rare fungal infection, now increasingly seen in COVID-19 patients and survivors.
More than 85% of the reported cases of mucormycosis, which has a high mortality rate, have a history of COVID-19, India's Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said last week.
Coronavirus patients, particularly those with diabetes, are prone to the mucor mould that's primarily found in soil, manure, and decaying fruits and vegetables. It's dangerously prevalent where hygiene is lacking, like in some of the rural areas.
"It causes a lot of infection, a lot of mortality if left undiagnosed and untreated," Dr. Chand Wattal, head of the Clinical Microbiology at New Delhi's Ganga Ram Hospital, told CBS News. ...
Coronavirus patients, particularly those with diabetes, are prone to the mucor mould that's primarily found in soil, manure, and decaying fruits and vegetables. It's dangerously prevalent where hygiene is lacking, like in some of the rural areas.
A study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in its New Infectious Diseases journal has shown that between September and December 2020, a 2.1-fold rise in black fungus cases was seen in India, as compared to the corresponding period during the previous year.
"It causes a lot of infection, a lot of mortality if left undiagnosed and untreated," Dr. Chand Wattal, head of the Clinical Microbiology at New Delhi's Ganga Ram Hospital, told CBS News.
Doctors say the use of steroids in the treatment of COVID-19 compromises patient's immune system, making them more vulnerable to the fungal infection. ..
Several states have reported a shortage of the vital drug, Liposomal Amphotericin-B, which is used to treat the illness. The government has also banned its export for now. India is fighting the spread of the fungal infection at a time when the second wave of COVID-19 is waning, but the authorities are already preparing for a third wave, as much of the country has eased restrictions. ...
ALSO SEE: Vaccine hesitancy puts India’s gains against virus at risk
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