Gujarat: More than 1,000 mucormycosis patients admitted in hospitals in four cities

Ahmedabad, May 21: More than 1,100 mucormycosis patients who had recovered from COVID-19 are undergoing treatment at government hospitals in four major cities of Gujarat, officials said on Friday.

The state government has declared mucormycosis a pandemic and notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act, which means the hospitals need to notify the government about suspected and confirmed cases of this fatal fungal infection, an official release said.

Hospitals are also required to follow guidelines on screening, diagnosis and treatment of mucormycosis (also called black fungus) issued by the Centre and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), it added.

While there is no data on the exact number of mucormycosis cases in Gujarat as yet, more than 1,100 patients are currently admitted to government-run hospitals in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara cities.

The highest 450 patients are admitted to the Rajkot civil hospital, 350 to the main civil hospital of Ahmedabad, around 110 in two state-run hospitals in Surat city and around 225 patients are receiving treatment in government hospitals in Vadodara city including 148 at SSG hospital, local officials told reporters.

As per a rough estimate, 70 to 80 persons with confirmed mucormycosis are being admitted to these hospitals every day since the second wave of coronavirus pandemic began in Gujarat in March, officials said.

In Rajkot, the authorities have set up a separate ward at a government-run hostel, which is already in use as a Covid Care Centre, for mucormycosis patients who have either undergone treatment or do not require a surgery, said Civil Superintendent RS Trivedi.

"We have kept 500 beds reserved for mucormycosis patients in the civil hospital. While 450 beds are already occupied, we are getting around 30 new patients every day. So we have decided to make use of the Samras Hostel facility too," said Trivedi.