Black fungus not a communicable infection: AIIMS director

Dr. Randeep Guleria, the director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences has said that Black Fungus is neither contagious nor infectious.

New Delhi: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director Dr. Randeep Guleria on Monday allayed fears over the much-talked black fungus (Mucormycosis) infection saying it’s not a communicable disease.

"Mucormycosis is one of the general fungal infections being seen in recovering or recovered Covid-19 patients. The number of cases being reported is increasing, but it is not a communicable disease, meaning it does not spread from one person to another like Covid. It’s also better to identify Mucormycosis by its name, rather than by the colour of the fungus," said Dr Guleria while addressing a press conference in New Delhi.

He said that the fungal infection observed in Covid-19 patients is mostly Mucormycosis, and isn't contagious nor infectious.

“No definite link between oxygen therapy and catching the infection has been found. I would like to inform you that 90 percent – 95 percent of mucormycosis patients are either diabetic and or taking steroids,” said Dr. Guleria.

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He said that it is better not to use the term black fungus while talking of mucormycosis, as it leads to a lot of avoidable confusion. "Black fungus is another family; this term got associated with mucormycosis due to the presence of black dots among the culture of white fungal colonies. In general, there are various types of fungal infections such as candida, aspergillosis, cryptococcus, histoplasmosis and coccidioidomycosis. Mucormycosis, candida and aspergillosis are the ones observed more in those with low immunity,” said Dr. Guleria.

He said that anti-fungal treatment goes on for many weeks, so it is proving to be challenging for hospitals since COVID-positive patients and COVID-negative patients who catch mucormycosis need to be housed in separate hospital wards.

On the issue of the post-Covid scenario, Dr Guleria said that there could be many symptoms that remain with the Covid recovered patients. "It’s better to opt for medical counselling and meditation," he said.

Referring to the Covid19 infection among youths and children, Dr. Guleria said that people in this category also get infected with the Covid19 virus. “However, their infection is not so dangerous as it is normally seen among people above 45 and others with comorbidities. The rate of infection between young people and others remains the same,” said Dr. Guleria.

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Meanwhile, Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the Union Health Ministry said vaccine manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna are in constant touch with the Central government, and "we are in constant touch with them as far as their regulatory and procurement related issues are concerned."

He was referring to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s claim that both the vaccine manufacturers have denied sending the Covid19 vaccine to the state government.

Giving a detailed picture of the Covid19 scenario in India, Agarwal said that states across India have been witnessing a decreasing trend in both active cases and positivity rate. The recovery rate has also gone up, he said.

Health Ministry statistics said that from 257,299 active cases on May 22, the country has registered 222,315 daily new cases with a decreasing percentage of -3.31 percent on seven days moving average.

The statistics further said that between May 15-21, 431 districts reported daily new cases of more than 100 whereas it was 531 between April 18 and May 4.