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Originally published on May 13, 2021 10:51 am
It s called the black fungus, and it can be deadly. It s also adding to India s growing COVID-19 woes at the moment.
On Sunday, the Indian Council of Medical Research and India s Health Ministry issued an advisory calling for better awareness, screening and management of mucormycosis, a rare but dangerous fungal infection. While exact numbers are not available, we re seeing a rise in cases in Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra, says Dr. Aparna Mukherjee, a scientist at the Indian Council of Medical Research and one of the experts who wrote the advisory.
Thursday, May 13, 2021 by Kamala Thiagarajan (NPR)
A light micrograph of a mature sporangium of a mucor fungus. India is seeing a rise in cases of mucormycosis, a rare but dangerous fungal infection.
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It’s called the “black fungus,” and it can be deadly. It’s also adding to India’s growing COVID-19 woes at the moment.
On Sunday, the Indian Council of Medical Research and India’s Health Ministry issued an advisory calling for better awareness, screening and management of mucormycosis, a rare but dangerous fungal infection.
Vasanti Nair in Surat
SURAT: For the past three decades, this ‘florence nightingale’ of Surat has been a pillar of support to the caregivers of New Civil Hospital. But when it came to the battle times with the pandemic, Vasanti Nair, head nurse at NCH showed her steely grit behind the starched uniform. Despite contacting Covid twice in the past one year, the ‘unputdownable’ 53-year-old returned to duty on Monday, two days before International Nurses Day.
Nair, a patient of thyroid and rheumatoid arthritis, has been on medication for many years now. She has, however, refused to to take a break till the coronavirus wave is controlled. Her daughter too suffered from Covid twice.
Surat: Surat city recorded 781 new coronavirus cases and nine deaths on Wednesday.
According to Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC), among the deceased included a 35-year-old woman from Mora Bhagal, a 55-year-old man from Begumpura and a 54-year-old man from Mota Varachha among others.
Rander recorded highest daily Covid-19 cases with 211, with the least cases reported from Varachha (B) zone (51).
SMC officials said, as on Wednesday, 45,100 people are under home quarantine and 2,479 Covid-19 patients were under treatment in different hospitals in the city.
With the rise in cases of mucormycosis, a special ward was set up at New Civil Hospital (NCH) in Surat. “There are currently 25 patients under treatment for mucormycosis in NCH. Three patients have undergone surgeries,” SMC said in an officials statement.