The governments of Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Telangana and Assam on Thursday declared 'black fungus' or Mucormycois as a notifiable disease under Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 after a number of people were found to be infected with the disease in these states. The move comes hours after the Centre asked all states to declare the disease as an epidemic given the rise in cases and deaths primarily among patients who have recovered from coronavirus. “All government and private health facilities and medical colleges have to follow guidelines for screening, diagnosis, management of mucormycosis," Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal has said in a letter to states. This fungal infection is leading to prolonged morbidity and mortality amongst COVID 19 patients, Agarwal said.
Amid a reported shortage of AmphotericinB that is being used to treat the disease, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the crisis will be resolved soon. “Within three days, five more pharma companies have got new drug approval for producing it in India, in addition to the existing six pharma companies," Mandaviya said in a tweet.
Earlier in the day, the Telangana government said all government and private health facilities shall follow guidelines for screening, diagnosis and management of Black Fungus by the Union Health Ministry and Indian Council of Medical Research. “It is also made mandatory for all government and private health facilities to report all suspected and confirmed cases to Health Department," the notification said.
Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said nine people were found to have been infected with the disease in the state. "Currently nine people are being treated for the disease, of which six are old cases and three, new ones. Seven of them are diabetic… all are stable," the senior official told reporters in Chennai.
Pointing out that the black fungus was already in existence much before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said people with uncontrolled diabetes and consuming steroids and those in intensive care units for a long time were more susceptible to the disease. To study what measures need to be taken, a 10-member 'Mucormycois Committee', comprising senior medical professionals, has been formed, he said.
The advantage of announcing black fungus as a notifiable disease was that all hospitals would immediately inform the government if they come across such cases, enabling the administration know which place or district was reporting more such numbers, he said. Radhakrishnan urged people not to panic or believe in rumours in various social media platforms about the disease.
Quoting media reports, he said the impact of 'black fungus disease' was more in places like Rajasthan and Maharashtra. He said the government has placed orders to procure more Amphotericin-B injections for treatment of 'black fungus' and added that one should not forget about the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the state.
"The Health department is also focusing on other diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have seen 2,000 babies getting delivered amid these COVID-19 times. People need not panic about black fungus disease", he said.
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