New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has sprung into action to tackle ‘black fungus’, a lethal post Covid-19 phenomenon being experienced by some recovered coronavirus patients in order to nip the disease in the bud.
CM Yogi has urged the concerned officials to coordinate with the advisory committee of state level health experts immediately to formulate and release the necessary guidelines for its treatment.
The Yogi Government has directed officials to proactively engage in the efforts to fight black fungus so as to prevent it from acquiring serious proportions in the state in future.
The Government has said that the availability of essential medicines must be ensured, noting that arrangements should be made for both prevention and treatment of the disease.
The Yogi Government has also called for online training of the health personnel engaged in the treatment of black fungus. The Government has directed authorities to immediately connect all medical colleges, chief medical officers (CMOs) and other physicians involved in treatment with Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) to facilitate necessary medical training for them.
Meanwhile, to overcome the challenges posed by the rising number of black fungus cases, the Government has formed a 12-member Covid-19 associated mucormyocosis (CAM) management team of SGPGI. The team will be responsible for forming Rapid Response Teams (RRTs); making treatment protocol; ensuring availability of medicines and database of cases; creation of more teams in state medical colleges and hospitals, sensitisation of healthcare workers for early diagnosis and management of cases as per ICMR guidelines as well as making recommendations to reduce panic among public and health care workers.
The high risk groups for black fungus are: Covid-19 patients; patients with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus (DM); Type 2 DM patients on high steroids therapy; patients receiving Immunosupressive therapy and patients in ICU for a long time, on oxygen therapy and with high ferritin.
The members of the team of experts include: Nodal Officer Dr Amir Kesari (Neuro-otology) and members Prof Alok Nath (HoD, Pulmonary Medicine), Prof Shantanu Pandey (CVTS),
Prof Vikas Kannojia (Ophthalmology), Prog Rungmie Marak (Microbiology), Dr Subhash Yadav (Endocrinology), Dr Arun Srivastava (Neurosurgery), Dr Pawan Kumar Verma (Neurosurgery), Dr Sujit Kumar Gautam (Anesthesiology), Dr Chetna Shamsheri (Anesthesiology), Dr Vinita Mani (Neurosurgery), and Dr Kuldeep Vishwakarma (Maxillofacial surgery).
