Black Fungus: Telangana at fifth position with 744 cases

Hyderabad: Telangana has reported 744 cases of mucormycosis also known as black fungus. According to the Union Ministry of Health, there are around 11,717 mucormycosis cases in the country. Gujarat tops the list with 2,859 cases followed by Maharashtra with 2,770 cases. Andhra Pradesh has 768 cases and Madhya Pradesh 752. Telangana stands at the fifth position with 744 cases.

Ministry of chemical and fertilizers on Wednesday provided additional 1890 vials of Amphotericin B vials for the treatment of mucormycosis. The ministry had provided 700 vials of Amphotericin B to the state on May 24. It may be recalled that on May 22, there were only 350 cases of mucormycosis in the state.

Meanwhile, Director of Medical Education Dr. K Ramesh Reddy said that alternative but equally effective medicines must be prescribed to counter the short supply of Amphotericin­B. He added that drug companies will take 15 to 20 days to ramp up production.

He said they have received 300 to 400 applications, only a few hundred vials of the antifungal injection were issued to the state. "Practically, there is no chance to give 120­150 vials to everyone. So, make those drugs available which are equally effective rather than stopping treatment," he said

He said alternatives like Posaconazole injections and tablets are equally effective and those are being used in neighboring states. Meanwhile, Telangana reported 3,762 new COVID­19 positive cases on Wednesday. The State continued to enhance testing with 91,048 samples examined on Wednesday compared to 81,203 tests a day before. Twenty more people succumbed taking the overall toll to 3,189.

Areas under Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation continue to top the list with 528 cases. Around 229 cases were reported from Rangareddy and 213 from Medchal­Malkajgiri. There has also been a perceptible surge in the number of cases in the districts during the last few days.