Jaipur: Over 30% black fungus patients underwent jaw removal surgery

JAIPUR: Of the 700 cases of mucormycosis (black fungus), at least 30% patients needed jaw removal, 10% of them were affected in the eye and in 5% of the cases it impacted the brain. Now, government and private hospital doctors, especially those with ENT and eye specialisation, have come together to share knowledge on treatment through video conferencing and constant meetings.
TOI on Friday spoke to the authorities to know the severity of black fungus. Dr Sudhir Bhandari, principal and controller, SMS hospital, said, “Not every patient needs jaw removal or has major impact in the eye. Our doctors here are working day and night to ensure they can avoid jaw removal or eye surgery. But that depends on the impact of the infection.”
He added that SMS is receiving patients from across the state with black fungus. “We are in touch with specialists from private hospitals. We need to make collective efforts.” Elaborating more on it, Dr Sunita Agarwal, head of the department, SMS Medical College, said, “For doctors, knowledge sharing is an effective way to get expert opinions of various doctors for effective treatment. In black fungus we are sharing everything with the private hospital doctors. Those who’ve had their jaw removed can use a prosthetic one so that he/she can eat properly.”
Attributing the black fungus to the use of steroids and low immunity Dr Satish Jain, a leading ENT specialist, said patients can eat properly once the effects of black fungus vanish.
“I have operated upon at least 100 patients. We are in constant touch with specialists of SMS hospital and in case of emergency I am open to give my expertise to the government hospitals as well,” Jain added.
28 hospitals authorised to treat black fungus:
Health department on Friday increased the number of hospitals for the treatment of black fungus from 25 to 28.