Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday said 50 cases of black fungus have been reported among covid-19 patients in the last 10 days. Currently, 50 such patients are under treatment in the state. It has been reported that this disease (Black Fungus) is caused by the steroid administered in the treatment of COVID-19 infection.
"Black Fungus disease is called mucormycosis. It affects the patient's eye, nose, and brain. COVID-19 infection decreases the immunity of patients and that is why more and more cases are coming from recovered COVID-19 patients," added CM.
He said that the doctors had to remove one eye of three of them to prevent the fungus from reaching their brain or the other eye. On Monday, two people died at Indore's Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital (MYH) due to a "Black Fungus" infection and a total of 13 such patients are under treatment here.
Meanwhile, government doctors in Madhya Pradesh will hold consultations with their counterparts in the US on how to deal with cases of mucormycosis fungal infection among COVID-19 patients, state Medical Education Minister Vishwash Kailash Sarang said on Wednesday.
According to health experts, the symptoms of mucormycosis include headache, fever, pain under the eyes, nasal or sinus congestion and partial loss of vision.
A number of cases of fungal infection among COVID-19 patients have also been reported in neighbouring Maharashtra and Gujarat.
"A team of doctors from the government-run Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal will interact with their counterparts in the US via video conference to discuss steps to check the spread of the fungal infection," Sarang said.
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The minister held a meeting with officials of various government and private medical colleges on Tuesday evening and it was suggested that a protocol be laid down for the treatment of the fungal infection.
They also discussed ways to deal with the possible third wave of coronavirus. Sarang said US-based infectious diseases expert Dr Manoj Jain, who hails from Madhya Pradesh, also took part in the meeting and gave suggestions on how to check the spread of COVID-19, its treatment protocol and focus areas during the third wave.
Health experts recently warned of a third wave of coronavirus infection in the country, which could also affect children. Sarang said during the meeting, they discussed arrangements to be made to check the viral infection among children and to ensure the availability of necessary medicines and resources to deal with the problem.
They also discussed steps to raise the number of beds in the Intensive Care Unit (ICUs) and High Dependency Units (HDUs) for COVID-19 patients and ways to develop an effective IT solution to monitor patients under home isolation, he said.
Discussions were also held on preparing a training module for final year students of medical, dental and nursing streams to rope them for treating COVID-19 patients, he said. It was also suggested to train patients who have recovered from COVID-19, NCC personnel and NGO members and deploy them for dealing with the coronavirus situation during the third wave, the minister said.
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