Noida adds 36 mucor patients in 3 days

Noida/Ghaziabad: While Ghaziabad has reported 60 cases of mucormycosis (black fungus) so far, as many as 28 patients have been discharged from hospitals. Officials of the health department said that all the current patients are being treated at four private hospitals in the city. According to official data, Harsh ENT hospital has admitted 32 patients so far — one of whom came in on Tuesday — and discharged 21 of them. One of the patients, however, died due to the infection.
At Max Hospital in Vaishali, seven patients have been discharged while nine are undergoing treatment. At Yashoda Hospital in Nehru Nagar, all nine patients reported so far are undergoing treatment. Meanwhile, two patients are being treated at Pulmonic Hospital (Raj Nagar).
However, doctors said that being discharged does not mean that the patients are free from the disease. “It only means that their conditions have improved. There is no point in keeping a patient in the hospital when they can be treated in the outpatient department (OPD). In this way, beds become available to serious patients. Discharged patients will remain under treatment for at least 21 days and are required to come every third day to the OPD. The treatment may go up to six weeks,” said senior ENT surgeon Dr BP Tyagi, who runs Harsh ENT hospital.
On OPD visits, the doctors conduct debridement (cleaning and removing dead tissues) and histopathology test to find out if the patient is free from the infection.
Amidst a shortage of amphotericin-B injections, a broad-spectrum antifungal drug, doctors are using posaconazole tablets (as it is more readily available in Delhi) for treatment, along with a mix of other medicines in their clinics.
Health officials confirmed that there remains a shortage of injections at the divisional level too. However, efforts are being made to contact distributors and stockists. Many oral medicines are easily available.
Meanwhile, a total of 63 cases of black fungus have been reported in Noida so far. Till three days ago, there were just 27 cases in the district. Since May 23, as many as 36 more cases have been added.
However, officials said not all of the patients are from Noida as many have been referred from neighbouring districts. “GB Nagar is a referral centre and we have got cases from other districts as well. Nearly half of the new cases have come from other areas,” said a senior health department official.
Most of the cases are serious, according to officials, and need intensive care. So far, there have been two deaths in the city due to black fungus while three patients have been discharged.