CHENNAI: The number of Mucormycosis cases (black fungus), a post-Covid complication that was widely reported during the second wave, has dipped by a great extent in the State. Doctors at private and government hospitals in the city say that the number of cases has fallen by about 80 to 90 per cent.
“During the second wave peak, an average of 10 to 15 patients would come to the Mucormycosis ward daily. Now, we see only one or two patients everyday. People from other districts and even Andhra Pradesh had come to our hospital for treatment. Though the cases have reduced, the patients who come now complain of severe symptoms, including eye infection,” said Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital Dean Dr E Theranirajan.
Being one of the primary tertiary hospitals in the State, the RGGGH had carried out over 1,100 surgeries related to Mucormycosis, and the doctors had to remove infected eyes of 35 people during the process. Dr Mohan Kameshwaran, Managing Director of Madras ENT Research Foundation, who is heading the Mucormycosis task-force committee, says that the case number is dipping, but infections are being reported on the upper jaws and teeth.
How did the cases fall?
Dr Kameshwaran said that the task-force committee had put forth recommendations for treatment of Mucormycosis and since then, the mortality rate has drastically reduced. Dr Subramanian Swaminathan, an Infectious Diseases Specialist, who is also part of the Mucormycosis Task Force Committee, said that the decline in black fungus cases can be attributed to the decline in Covid spread.
“The number of people on steroid treatment has reduced and people are also controlling sugar intake. But black fungus has not been eradicated completely,” he said.
“The task force formed guidelines and provided it to the government. It stressed on controlling steroid use and training doctors at periphery-levels and setting up a task force in every district hospital,” Dr Swaminathan added. Tamil Nadu stands fourth among the States with the highest Mucormycosis case tally, revealed data by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Maharashtra stood first with 9,654 cases as of July 28, followed by Gujarat with 6,846 cases, Andhra Pradesh with 4,209 cases, and Tamil Nadu with 4,075 cases.
Keep a tab on symptoms
Dr M Babu Manohar, Senior Consultant, ENT, Head and Neck Surgeon, Apollo Hospitals, said that over use of steroids in diabetic patients, was the major reason for black fungus cases, and the patients had reached hospitals with a combination of severe symptoms such as face pain, eye swelling, lose of teeth and pain in gums and jaws. Dr Niraj Kumar Joshi, Consultant ENT, Head and Neck Surgeon, Kauvery Hospital, Chennai, noted that though the number of cases have come down, patients should still keep a tab on symptoms. “Early treatment would yield results,” he added.
At a glance
TN stands 4th in the country with regard to Mucormycosis case
As of July 28, there were 4,075 cases in TN, according to the Ministry of Health
About 100 to 140 cases were reported daily in June
Task force recommended reduction in steroid use