The black fungi are facing problems for those affected by India in Covid

The dramatic increase in cases of black fungus during the difficult second Covid-19 period in India has shown exacerbated effects as doctors have expanded medical advice and threatened patients with self-medication.

Great writing for medicine, in particular, the treatment of Covid-19 patients is blamed for an outbreak of black fungal infections and a lack of medical treatment.

Doctors have shown a high percentage of patients with black fungus or mucormycosis, a disease that kills about 50% that starts in the nose and spreads rapidly in the eyes and brain.

Experts has warned that the overdose of steroids and other drugs could lead to secondary infections and antibiotics in the country.

“The cases I see are horrific. You usually see four or five cases in life, now we see four or five cases a day, “says Dr. Atul Mittal, an ear, nose and throat doctor at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, a hospital outside New Delhi.” for the use of steroids. “

People with infectious disease and mucormycosis often need surgery to remove dead dead tissue from the fungus. Many patients recover from coronavirus unless they lose their eyesight or jawbones to save their lives.

Once the disease has spread, it can kill in a matter of days, says Mittal. “We will not allow the disease to grow, it will continue to spread like an ant,” he said.

Mucor fungi meet everywhere in daily life: in the soil, plants and rotten fruit. But cases of mucormycosis are rare and sometimes only affect people with diabetes or weakened immune systems, such as cancer patients.

However, doctors said thousands of Covid-19 patients who took too many steroids for a long time against medical guidelines could become infected.

Steroids are given to help deal with the “cytokine storm” – a more inflammatory response that harms the body without releasing the disease – caused by coronavirus. But they also reduce immunity and increase sugar production, creating fertile soil for fungal growth. India, which has the highest number of diabetics in the world after China, has thousands of high-risk patients.

All over the world, hospitals are developing a number of measures to address the growing problem of black mushrooms. With many patients in India still on the Covid-19 steroid regimen, adults fear the number will only increase. The Ministry of Health in Maharashtra, home of the commercial capital of Mumbai, was warned last week there could be more than 2,000 cases in the state.

But as they were desperate pleading for air as well as drugs in India in recent weeks, there are now requests from relatives of people with mucormycosis to access life-saving drugs, such as Liposomal amphotericin B.

Harsh Gupta, a 28-year-old software developer in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, said he had visited more than 50 pharmacies in the past four days to find the prescription drug.

Her diabetic father had just recovered from Covid-19 when he was diagnosed with mucormycosis and underwent surgery on Friday.

“There is a possibility that the disease will recur in the area. To prevent this, this injection is very important, “Gupta said.” There is no chance that the operation will happen twice. “

Without these drugs, his father would not survive. “It’s nowhere to be found,” Gupta said. “We have nothing to do. We do not know what to do. ”

Gilead, the manufacturer of the product, said it was “preparing hundreds of thousands of additional anti-fungal drugs for shipment this week”.

Lancelot Pinto, a cardiologist at PD Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai, said the high incidence of mucormycosis indicates an increase in steroid misuse in India.

World Health Organization advises Coronavirus patients receive a dose of 6mg of dexamethasone, corticosteroid, or the like for 7 to 10 days to reduce mortality in critically ill or overweight patients.

“I have seen more than 500mg of medicine a day. It’s not uncommon, ”says Pinto, adding that patients in India are usually given steroids for one month.

Taking steroids too fast Covid-19 can also affect the immune system and is thought to lead to unnecessary hospitals for young people who can fight the disease, says Pinto.

In the aftermath of the second wave, doctors have offered a list of antiretroviral drugs in combination with steroids and antibiotics to people with mild to moderate seizures.

Governments in India have also sent conflicting messages about the drug they should take, sometimes opposing the international convention.

For example, several Indian countries are prescribing Ivermectin as a drug against Covid-19, despite warnings from the WHO not to use the drug. Some have combined antibiotics and steroids in Covid-19 home packaging.

Leena Menghaney, a medical lawyer, said many people treat themselves with antibiotics, which puts them at risk of developing antibiotics.

“Every family I know of keeps or uses azithromycin,” he said, referring to antibiotics used by Donald Trump, former US President, acceptance last year. “We are burning the most important drugs.”

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