May 13, 2021
Khurshida Bano.
South China Morning Post
On being told, on a recent sultry morning in Mumbai, that both her eyes would need to be removed, Neelam Bakshi, 47, could not cry. Her eyes were too stiff, dry, and swollen from the ‘black fungus’, mucormycosis.
“It took a while for my words to sink in. Then she said simply ‘I won’t see my children again’ and went quiet,” said Dr Renuka Bradoo, the specialist treating Bakshi.
The deadly and often disfiguring disease is usually exceedingly rare. But as a second wave of coronavirus infections sweep India, Maharashtra – the state worst affected by Covid-19 – must now cope with an explosion of mucormycosis cases too.