Maharashtra govt announces free treatment for patients suffering from 'Black Fungus'

In a key development on Tuesday, the Maharashtra government announced free treatment for patients suffering from Mucormycosis also known as 'black fungus'. This will be operationalized under the aegis of the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Jan Arogya Yojana which is the flagship health insurance scheme of the state government. Writing on Twitter, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope stated that his department had taken serious note of rising cases of Mucormycosis among COVID-19 patients in some districts. Moreover, he stated that an awareness drive will be carried out regarding the same. At present, there are 6,18,070 active novel coronavirus cases in Maharashtra while 44,07,818 patients have recovered and 75,849 deaths have been reported. 

What is the 'Black Fungus' infection?

Mucormycosis is a fungal infection that mainly affects people who are on medication for other health problems that reduce their ability to fight environmental pathogens. While it is very rare, it can lead to loss of the upper jaw and sometimes even the eye. Sinuses of such individuals get affected after fungal spores are inhaled from the air. Warning signs include pain and redness around the eyes and/or nose, fever, headache, coughing, shortness of breath, bloody vomit and altered mental status. According to the government's advisory, the black fungus infection should be suspected when there is sinusitis, one-sided facial pain, numbness or swelling, toothache, blurred or double vision with pain, chest pain, etc. 

This infection has been witnessed in cases of uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, immunosuppression by steroids, prolonged ICU stay and co-morbidities. Some of the tips for prevention include using masks at dusty construction sites, maintaining personal hygiene including through scrub bath, using steroids and antibiotics judiciously, controlling hyperglycemia and monitoring blood glucose level post-COVID-19 discharge. It is imperative that people should not lose crucial time to initiate treatment for Mucormycosis, the Centre has advised.

The management of such patients is a team effort involving microbiologists, internal medicine specialists, intensivist neurologists, ENT specialists, ophthalmologists, dentists, surgeons and others. The medical treatment entails installing peripherally inserted central catheter, maintaining adequate systemic hydration, infusing normal saline IV before Amphotericin B infusion and conducting antifungal therapy for 4-6 weeks. The patients have to be monitored clinically and with radio-imaging to ascertain disease progression.