The Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital reported 15 more cases of black fungus in a day, taking its tally to 36, a senior official said on Sunday. Of the 36 cases, 30 people are Covid positive, LNJP Hospital's medical director Dr Suresh Kumar said.
Mucormycosis or black fungus is more common among people whose immunity has weakened due to Covid, diabetes, kidney disease, liver or cardiac disorders, age-related issues, or those on medication for auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. If such patients are administered steroids, their immunity weakens further, allowing the fungus to thrive.
Cases of black fungus have been rising in the national capital amid the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. "Currently, there are 36 black fungus patients at the LNJP Hospital and 30 of them are Covid positive," Kumar said.
The LNJP Hospital had 21 cases of mucormycosis till Saturday evening. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had on Saturday cautioned COVID-19 patients against taking steroids without a doctor's advice.
"This is very dangerous. A patient's immunity becomes zero when he/she takes steroids. Black fungus, which is found in soil or decaying matter inside homes, doesn't affect healthy people. Chances of infection are more in those with low immunity," he had said. It is imperative to control blood sugar levels. Any virus, fungus or bacteria multiplies rapidly when the blood sugar level increases, he had said.
Jain had also said that there was a scarcity of drugs needed for the treatment of mucormycosis in Delhi and the rest of the country. About 15 hospitals in the city are treating patients of mucormycosis, he had said.
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