Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 22

Centre has sanctioned only 50 doses of amphotericin- B, a key drug to treat mucormycosis or ‘black fungus’ to Chandigarh.

The doses will not suffice for the patients admitted in various hospitals of the city. Each patient of mucormycosis requires more than 100 doses to combat the fungal infection. The local hospitals have also been sharing the existing stocks. The PGI provided the GMCH with 50 vials on Saturday evening, officials said. The PGI has been sent a separate stock of amphotericin-B by the Centre.

The patients’ families in the city are still scrambling for the anti-fungal drug. Firoz Khan, the attendant of a patient who has been admitted to the PGI, said: “I have been given a slip by the doctors for this injection but I am not able to procure it anywhere in the city.”

The Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers, DV Sadananda Gowda, today announced an allocation of 23,680 additional vials of the drug to various states and Union Territories.

Dr Jagat Ram, Director of PGI, said there were more than 35 cases of mucormycosis patients admitted to the hospital, of which 24 were covid positive and 11 non-Covid patients.

“A lot of mucormycosis patients are Covid positive, diabetic and immunocompromised. Such patients have been the victim of indiscriminate use of steroids. Even after discharge, many patients develop mucormycosis. There is a need to control the sugar levels of patients who have received steroids during Covid treatment. We have to stop the formation of fungus in patients by ensuring that there is no indiscriminate use of steroids in Covid patients,” said Prof Jagat Ram. Principal Health Secretary Arun Gupta said the city was facing a shortage of anti-fungal drug. “The UT Administration has placed the order of 2,000 doses of amphotericin-B with a private company to meet the shortage of anti-fungal drug in the city,” he said.