NEW DELHI: Rajinder Singh, 59-year-old, from Najafgarh saw a ray of hope when he defeated the deadly coronavirus last week.
However, his happiness didn’t last long after he contradicted fungus infection mucormycosis. A high diabetic patient, he was administered steroid while recovering from the Covid infection which has now resulted in the mucor.
Naveen, his younger son, told the reporter that his condition started deteriorating last week. “He tested negative but started showing signs of the fungus infection. We took him to Venkateshwar Hospital but father needed ventilation which was not available there. Two days ago we brought him to AIIMS. But doctors said that the infection has spread to his brain and survival chance was only 10%. He has been unconscious for the past 6 days now. This is due to the steroids. Cannot believe that he survived Covid but may not survive a fungus infection.”
Past few days, the demand for the injection liposomal amphotericin b used for fungus infection treatment has also gone up. Abhishek Bhattacharya, Delhi Assembly Fellow and Advisor to Raghav Chadha who is handling Covid requests stated that everyday around four people are approaching for the injection as it is not available in Delhi-NCR easily.
Rahul Aggarwal, who runs a chemist shop at Gautam Nagar, next to AIIMS said that they are seeing around 5-6 people everyday seeking for the injection, however, it is unavailable in most of the shops.
Six out of eight in ENT emergency are for Mucormycosis. Dr Chirom Amit Singh from ENT department at AIIMS, Delhi noted that almost 80 per cent of the patients who are facing the fungus infection are remaining positive of Covid.
“If I talk about the rise in patient count owing to mucor, then 6 out of 8 patients coming to ENT emergencies are facing this issue. The infection can be seen in between 2-3 weeks of diagnosis with Covid-19. It is a rare infection,” he mentioned.
Dr Sanjeev Sinha, Professor, Medicine department at AIIMS said that the fungus affects those with low immunity and begins to target lungs and the respiratory tract, spreads to eyes, nose and then finally hits the brain which leads to loss of consciousness.
“Those with uncontrolled diabetes are at higher risk and not every diabetic patient may face this fungus. Another factor that has emerged is prolonged use of steroids even in mild cases which has led to a surge of mucor cases. Talking about the administration of liposomal amphotericin b, we monitor kidney, liver functioning before using it,” he mentioned.
Dr Nikhil Tandon, head of the department of endocrinology, metabolism and diabetes at AIIMS mentioned that there are no consolidated numbers yet on mucor because in Delhi it has started very recently.
“Maybe Gujarat and Maharashtra have data as they witnessed a wave before north and central India faced it. If we compare to previous year, there is much more this time, which could be due to more infections as well. Around 25-30 patients admitted for mucor infection along with some more in casualty ward where it is diagnosed first. Even 30 is a big figure, as there’s no mild or moderate category. there is significant morbidity and mortality. Also, there’s no variant of treatment hence focus should be on prevention,” he mentioned.
Two of main dedicated Covid hospitals are also seeing rise in mucor cases amongst admitted corona patients, sources from Lok Nayak and RGSSH noted.
“As OPDs are not happening and post Covid discharge cases are not followed up and neither non-Covid services are operational, hence the critical Mucormycosis patients are mostly going to AIIMS or RML. Majority are facing fungus infection 2 weeks after getting discharged from Covid ward. However, there are many such admitted patients being treated for mucor as well,” said a representative from Lok Nayak hospital.
COVID hospitals have more mucor cases
Two of main dedicated Covid hospitals are also seeing rise in mucor cases, sources from Lok Nayak and RGSSH noted. Mostly, pateints are going to AIIMS or RML.