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BIG STORY                                                                      MAY 28, 2021  |    The Indian Eye                          6




            AIIMS Delhi Director Dr                                                                                   tailed review of rising number
        Randeep Guleria also pointed                                                                                  of cases of Mucormycosis in
        out that there has been an in-                                                                                various states, a total of 23680
        creasing trend of rise in fungal                                                                              additional vials of Amphoter-
        infection in the last few weeks                                                                               icin- B have been allocated to
        being seen among those recov-                                                                                 all States/UTs today. The Al-
        ering from COVID-19 with                                                                                      location has been made based
        several states reporting an in-                                                                               on the total number of patients
        crease in the cases of black fun-                                                                             which is approximately 8848
        gus. “The Covid-19-linked in-                                                                                 across the country,” the Union
        fection has claimed more than                                                                                 Minister tweeted.
        7,000 lives in the country,” said                                                                                 According to a list of Mucor-
        Dr Guleria.                                                                                                   mycosis cases reported across
            Patients within six weeks of                                                                              the country  cited by  the  Min-
        COVID treatment are at the                                                                                    ister,  Gujarat has a  maximum
        highest risk of black fungus, said                                                                            number of cases (2281), fol-
        senior neurosurgeon at AIIMS.                                                                                 lowed by Maharashtra (2000)
        Professor of Neurosurgery at                                                                                  and Andhra Pradesh (910). As
        AIIMS, Dr P Sarat Chandra                                                                                     per the Union Health Minis-
        said, “One of the most import-                  A health worker gives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine              try, Mucormycosis is being de-
        ant reasons is uncontrolled di-           to a beneficiary, during drive-In vaccination at Ambience Mall,     tected among patients who are
        abetes, systemic use of steroids                       in Gurugram on Sunday. (ANI Photo)                     recovering or have recovered
        along with tocilizumab, pa-                                                                                   from COVID-19.
        tients on ventilation and taking  port every Mucormycosis case  Union Minister for Chemicals                      “Moreover, anyone who is
        supplemental oxygen. Within  to the state government.                    and Fertilizers DV Sadanan- diabetic and whose immune
        six weeks of COVID treatment            Amid the rising concern of  da Gowda announced that the  system is not functioning well
        if people have any of these fac- black fungus cases in addition  Centre has allocated a total of  needs to be on the guard against
        tors they are at the highest risk  to the COVID pandemic, the  23680 additional vials of Am- this. The disease is caused by a
        of black fungus.” He cautioned  rare cases of Mucormycosis of  photericin- B to all states and  set of micro-organisms known
        that giving cold oxygen direct- the small intestine have been  Union Territories on Saturday.                 as mucormycetes, which are
        ly from cylinders could be very  reported in Delhi’s Sir Ganga               Taking to Twitter, Gow- present naturally in the envi-
        dangerous for patients.              Ram Hospital.                       da informed that the alloca- ronment,  seen  mostly  in  soil
            “Giving cold oxygen di-             Meanwhile,  after  review- tion  has  been  made  based  on  and in decaying organic matter
        rectly from the cylinder is very  ing the rising number of cases  the total number of patients,  like leaves, compost and piles,”
        dangerous. Anti-fungal drug  of Mucormycosis or black fun- which is approximately 8848  the Ministry had earlier said.
        Posaconazole can be given to  gus infections in various states,  across the country. “After a de-                 It stated that the treatment
        high-risk individuals to reduce                                                                               of COVID-19 patients in-
        incidents of black fungus,” add-                                                                              volves the intake of drugs like
        ed Dr Chandra.                                     sii on the defensive                                       dexamethasone, which sup-
            On the issue of masks, Dr                                                                                 presses our immune system
        Chandra said, “Prolonged use              after executive slams center                                        response. Due to these factors,
        of masks to be discouraged as                wo days after Serum Institute of India (SII) executive di-       COVID-19 patients face a re-
        any cloth mask kept in a damp                rector Suresh Jadhav’s controversial remarks on India’s          newed risk of failing the battle
        place with prolonged use may          Tvaccination drive against COVID-19, the world’s largest                against attacks mounted by or-
        catch fungus. Cloth masks                                                                                     ganisms such as mucormycetes.
        should  be  washed  every  day        vaccine maker completely dissociated itself from the statement              The Union Health Minis-
        and N95 masks preferably dis-         and  clarified  that  CEO  Adar  Poonawalla  is  the  only  official    try on Friday wrote to the all
                                              spokesperson of the company. “He isn’t authorised to speak on
        carded after five uses. Rotatory      these issues only the official spokesperson of the company is al-       the states and union territories
        use of masks preferred that is,       lowed to speak,” SII CEO Adar Poonawalla told ANI.                      (UTs) advising them to review
        keep one mask for every day              Speaking at an online health summit, Jadhav had on Friday            their preparedness for infec-
        of the week and rotate them                                                                                   tion prevention and control, as
        again.                                said that the government did not take into account the avail-           well as hygiene and sanitation
            Cases of ‘black fungus’ in-       able stock of vaccines and ignored World Health Organisation’s          in hospitals.
        fection are being reported in         guidelines while rolling out inoculation phases.                            The states and UTs have
                                                 With regard to the statement, SII has made its stand clear that
        several  parts  of  the  country.     this is not the view of the company. According to the sources,          been asked to improve the en-
        States like Rajasthan, Gujarat,       Prakash Kumar Singh, Director of Government and Regulatory              vironment and facilitate ventila-
        Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka,           Affairs at SII has written a letter to the Union Health Ministry        tion with focus on fresh air and
        Odisha, Telangana and Tamil                                                                                   natural ventilation wherever
        Nadu have already declared it         on behalf of Poonawala, clarifying that that Jadhav’s statement         control systems with requisite
        a ‘notifiable’ disease under the      is not issued on behalf of Serum Institute of India Private Limit-      air changes are not available,
        Epidemic Diseases Act, there-         ed, further stating that the company completely dissociates itself      cleaning,  disinfection  and  san-
                                              from the statement.
        by making it mandatory to re-                                                                                    Continued on next page... >>


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