Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers DV Sadananda Gowda on Wednesday said that an additional 29,250 vials of Amphotericin-B drug, which is used to treat the black fungus infection (mucormycosis), has been allocated to all the states and union territories. In a series of tweets, the Minister gave details about the supply of Amphotericin-B. "Additional 29,250 vials of #Amphotericin- B drug, used in treatment of #Mucormycosis, have been allocated to all the States/UTs today. The allocation has been made based on the number of patients under treatment which is 11,717 across the country (sic)," Sadananda Gowda tweeted.
Earlier, 19,420 vials of Amphotericin- B were allocated on May 24 and 23,680 vials of the drug were supplied across the country on May 21. According to the Union Minister, additional 1,220 vials of Amphotericin-B have been allocated for around 481 patients who are under treatment for black fungus in Karnataka. Prior to this, an additional 1,030 vials of drugs were already allocated to Karnataka on May 24 and 1,270 vials on May 21.
The data shared by the Minister shows that Gujarat has 2,859 patients, which is the maximum in the country, followed by 2,770 in Maharashtra, 768 in Andhra Pradesh, 752 in Madhya Pradesh, 744 in Telangana and 701 in Uttar Pradesh.Karnataka has reported 481 cases while Tamil Nadu has reported 236. Kerala has reported 36 cases. The demand for Amphotericin-B has grown in the states with cases appearing in many districts. Doctors have expressed concern over the growing cases of mucormycosis, which was a very rare phenomena previously and now appearing as a post-COVID complication.
Mucormycosis is a serious but rare fungal infection caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes that has been developing in COVID-19 patients. The fungal disease is commonly observed in patients who were given steroids for a long time, who had been hospitalised for a long time, were on oxygen support or ventilator, faced poor hospital hygiene or those who have been taking medication for other illnesses such as diabetes.