Government must stay alert as black fungus looms large

Don't know why the central and State governments continue to blink at the impending danger which they are likely to face if they don't wake up immediately and take necessary steps to save the country from another catastrophe - black fungus.

As AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria and many other doctors say, mucormycosis, also known as 'black fungus', is not any new infection but the number of cases has increased due to Covid-19 and we are on the verge of facing shortage of antifungal drugs. The reason is sudden surge in black fungus cases and shortage of drugs in the market which is already being felt. The production of some antifungal drugs has gone down due to shortage of raw material.

Dr Randeep Guleria rightly warned of the spread of mucormycosis and recommended that with Covid-19 cases increasing, it's of paramount importance that proper protocols of infection control are followed at hospitals. But the problem is that the medical staff is already grappling with Covid and now this new problem from old fungus is going to prove to be another major headache for them.

Experts say that doctors should see that use of excessive steroids should be avoided as they increase the chances of black fungus infection. What was a rare fungus is now becoming a dreaded disease.

Despite all this no serious measures seem to be forthcoming from the State government here. Only a few guidelines were issued on Saturday but no review of the measures that need to be taken to address likely shortage of beds in hospitals and availability of drugs etc has not been made. If the government blinks as it did in case of Remdesivir, we are in for another heavy black marketing of antifungal drugs. Experts say if the black fungus is not detected early, it may necessitate surgery and that requires some injections which are already in short supply.

It's time the political executive learns to stop patting its own back day in and day out saying we are the best or better than others in Covid management and focus on the danger bells that are ringing louder. Wake up and don't let more lives be lost.