Make It Must For Hospitals To Report Black Fungus Cases: Centre To States

Coronavirus: With hundreds of Black Fungus cases being reported from across the country, the centre has asked states to notify it under the Epidemic Diseases Act

Mucormycosis or Black Fungus will be notified by states under the Epidemic Diseases Act. That could help the government know how many patients are infected at a time when there is a huge demand for anti-fungal drugs needed for the treatment. NDTV has estimated that the number of cases in the country so far is at least 4,000. In Mumbai, 63-year-old Kishore Punjabi recovered from Covid but was attacked by the fungal infection, which forced doctors at a private hospital to surgically remove his right eye and underlying dead tissue till the skull bone. Dr Prashant Kevle, ENT surgeon at Sushruth Hospital, says the surgery took four hours. With hundreds of such cases of Black Fungus that affects the eyes, nose, jaws and could even spread to the brain, being reported from across the country, the centre has asked states to notify it under the Epidemic Diseases Act. Notifying a disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act means that government hospitals, private facilities and medical colleges will have to report suspected and confirmed cases to the health authorities.