MP: At least 32 People Die of Black Fungus in 20 days

As many as 32 patients have died of Black Fungus or mucormycosis in the last 20 days at a government-run hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Indore city, an official said on Wednesday.

Of late, several cases of mucormycosis, also known as the black fungus, a serious infection, have been found in people who have recovered from COVID-19.

The Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital (MYH) in the state's industrial hub Indore has been treating a number of black fungus patients not only from here, but also from various other districts, reported PTI.

"The first patient of mucormycosis was admitted in the MYH on May 13 and since then, a total of 439 patients have been admitted till now in the hospital. Out of them, 84 people were discharged after treatment, while 32 patients have died so far," MYH superintendent Pramendra Thakur told PTI.

The present black fungus mortality rate in the hospital is 7.29 percent, he said, claiming that the fatality rate was lower than other hospitals in the state, the report said.

"We have carried out more than 200 surgeries in the last 20 days to save the lives of patients suffering from the black fungus," he said.

At present, 323 patients are undergoing treatment for the fungal infection in the hospital, the official said.

Out of them, 14 contracted the fungal infection along with COVID-19, while 301 people got mucormycosis after recovering from the coronavirus infection, he said.

The eight other patients suffering from the black fungus have no record of contracting COVID-19, he informed.

The statistics show that 93 percent of the patients contracted the black fungus after recovering from COVID-19.

Indore, having a population of nearly 35 lakh, has been the worst affected by COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 here on March 24, 2020, the district has till now reported 1,50,516 cases and 1,347 deaths due to the disease.

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