Early treatment for black fungus

 

Doctors wish for timely treatment of black fungus, extra drug availability-

With the increase in the number of mucormycosis cases in the national capital, doctors have urged awareness and said the accessibility of drugs should enhance. Some states and UTs have proclaimed mucormycosis, also called black fungus, as an epidemic under the Epidemic Diseases Act (1897). Doctors said treatment should be quick as recovered COVID-19 patients are already weak in their bodies. The doctors also said that factors such as the utilization of steroids in the treatment of COVID-19 and co-morbidities can make a patient more at risk due to black fungus. The doctors said they awaited there would be cases of black fungus due to COVID-19 but now there is a dearth of drugs. Dr. Vivek R Sinha, ENT surgeon, and Senior Consultant, Venkateshwar Hospital, said therapy may vary according to symptoms of the patient. We anticipated the rise in mucormycosis based on our incident in the first wave but the sheer number caught us unready and drugs for all the cases dealing with the infection were not there. Amphotericin is available in three different forms. which are described as Liposomal Amphotericin, a lipid complex version, and Amphotericin B deoxycholate (the older version of the anti-fungal). But the previous version can cause notable morbidity because it can harm kidneys as most of the patients have diabetes for which Liposomal Amphotericin is used. The price of Liposomal Amphotericin is on the bigger side and is a double whammy for patients who need to take it after retrieving it from COVID-19. People may require surgical support because the treatment is effective only after the dead or infected tissue is detached. Liposomal Amphotericin price can be on average rupees Rs 3500 to Rs 8000 per day. Doctors at several hospitals in the city said a shortage of drugs is used to treat black fungus. Five additional manufacturers have been permitted a license to make Amphotericin-B by the central government in addition to the existing manufacturers. A supplementary 1,11,000 vials of Amphotericin-B are looking forward to being available per month from July this year. Union Health Ministry has announced 5,424 cases of mucormycosis in the country of which 4,556 patients have a past of COVID-19 infection with 55 percent also having diabetes.