Doctors at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) in Bihar’s capital Patna have successfully removed mucormycosis or black fungus from the brain of a 60-year-old infected patient, HT’s sister publication Livehindustan has reported. The size of the fungus was equivalent to a cricket ball and the surgery, led by Dr Brajesh Kumar, on Friday went on for three hours.
The man, identified as Anil Kumar from Jamui, is currently stable. Kumar recently recovered from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and was suffering from frequent episodes of dizziness and faintings for the past few days. He was then referred to IGIMS and was detected with mucormycosis.
Dr Manish Mandal, the medical superintendent of IGIMS, told Livehindustan on Saturday the fungus entered Kumar’s brain through his nose but did not spread to his eyes. And because of this, the 60-year-old’s eyes remained unharmed during the surgery. The Livehindustan report also pointed out that doctors have had to remove the eyes in a majority of the patients in similar cases.
Bihar has so far reported more than 500 cases of mucormycosis, which is caused by fungal spores and has severe effects. The state government declared mucormycosis as an epidemic on May 22. People get infected by black fungus after coming in contact with fungal spores in the environment. The disease is mostly detected among recovered patients of Covid-19, diabetic patients and those with low immunity.
In recent days, doctors in Bihar have complained of a severe shortage of Amphotericin B, which is used for treating mucormycosis.
Meanwhile, the Covid-19 disease caseload in Bihar has climbed to 716,296 of which 9466 people have died and 701,234 have recovered. The active cases have come down to 5596. The state government is facing flak over its alleged undereporting of deaths due to the viral disease with the opposition parties accusing the former of botching up the battle against the ongoing pandemic.
