BENGALURU, MYSURU: Amid growing allegations by elected representatives over fudging of the Covid-19 data, The New Indian Express has found discrepancies in figures of Mucormycosis too, commonly known as black fungus, being reported by the Karnataka Health Department.On Tuesday, the Health Department revealed that there were 557 cases of black fungus infection and six deaths in Bengaluru.
However, data from just three city hospitals shows that the fatalities are much higher, at 41 deaths. Apollo Hospital has seen three deaths, Minto Eye Hospital and Victoria Hospital saw 34 deaths and Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital reported four deaths. Narayana Nethralaya and Aster CMI Hospital reported no deaths, while seven other hospitals did not share data.
According to the official data, as of June 1, Mysuru reported over 35 black fungus cases and no deaths, but data from the Mysuru war room, available with TNIE, shows a significant difference, not just in the number of cases, but also in the deaths reported.As per the May 31 report, a total of 66 cases of black fungus cases were reported in Mysuru and eight patients have been discharged while 50 of them are currently under treatment at various hospitals. What is more worrying is the fact that eight people have succumbed to the life-threatening fungal infection.
The data from the war room showed that over 45 Mucormycosis cases were reported in KR Hospital alone, of which six patients succumbed to the infection, two were discharged and 37 are still under treatment. As any as 21 cases were reported in six other private hospitals in the city of which two patients died.When asked about this, a doctor from the Mucormycosis ward of KR Hospital confirmed that 45 cases were reported in the hospital and added that there might be some miscalculation in the state health bulletin. The doctor expressed concern as wrong data might affect the treatment of patients, as the central government allocates the drug Amphotericin-B based on the data provided by the state. This crucial drug is already in short supply in the state.
However, Health Commissioner Dr K V Thrilok Chandra claimed that the state was not under-reporting the number of cases and deaths, but there was an issue with the updating of figures. “Mysuru district might not have updated all the figures on the portal. All district surveillance units must update figures received from hospitals. They might not have received the complete figures,” he said.
Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said that the government has no intent nor it is necessary to hide or under report any numbers. "In fact it is more useful to the government if the numbers are reported quickly and correctly as early detection helps in better treatment and saves lives. Even the quantity of medicine allocated by the Union Govt is based on the number of cases reported by state. So there is no question of underreporting data," he said.
"However, there may be some disparity in data due to delay in reporting, people being diagnosed or treated in districts other than their home districts and other technical and logistical issues. The state government has decided to conduct an audit regarding deaths due to black fungus and we will have more clarity on data once the audit report is made public."