Gandhinagar: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Thursday declared Mucormycosis (Black Fungus) an epidemic in the state.
A detailed discussion on the fungal infection was held at a meeting of the core committee during which it was announced that the disease has been declared as an epidemic under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1857.
Government and private hospitals/medical colleges treating the disease will have to follow guidelines issued by Union Health Ministry as well as ICMR for screening, diagnosis and treatment, officials said.
The state government had set up separate wards at hospitals in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar for patients suffering from Mucormycosis.
Initially, more cases were reported in Surat followed by Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Vadodara. About 500 patients in Ahmedabad and 400 in Rajkot have undergone surgery for Mucormycosis -- which costs around Rs 5.5 lakh to Rs 7.5 lakh -- in just 10 days.
The patient needs to be administered at least four injections every day for one-and-a-half months. Each injection costs Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000.
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Rupani had earlier directed the health department to initiate immediate steps to prevent this disease from spreading in towns and villages.
ETV Bharat did a reality check on May 13 and found that there were around 500 cases across the state which increased to nearly 1,200 within a week.
Earlier, this disease was prevalent among patients with serious ailments such as kidney failure and cancer. But now, diabetic patients are suffering from fungal infection of the sinus after they recover from COVID-19.
Senior cardiologist Dr Atul Abhyankar told ETV Bharat that there only a few patients of COVID-19 are given steroids, yet they are getting infected with the fungus. One of the reasons for the spread of this disease is the humidifier used for giving oxygen.
"Mucormycosis is more likely to infect people of a high-risk group such as those with uncontrolled diabetes, cancer, have undergone organ transplant, drug addicts, taken steroid for a long time, inhaled humidified oxygen, undernourished children, undergone stem cell transplant, surgery of the skin, burnt skin or open wound on the skin. The symptoms of Mucormycosis depend on its spread on different parts of the body," Dr Abhyankar said.
"Mucormycosis is a rare but serious disease that is found in living bodies everywhere. It is found more in mud. Mucormycosis fungus enters the human body through breathing and wounds. Mucormycosis attacks people low immunity," he said.
"Sterile water should be used in the humidifier. But, in private hospitals and covid isolation centres or at home, coronavirus patients are given oxygen through a humidifier that uses water from the tap that contains many types of organisms that may lead to the formation of fungus. People must use sterile water in humidifiers and change the water twice in 24 hours. It is also important to keep the humidifier clean," he said.
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