One suspected to have black fungus dies

A patient suspected to have mucormycosis, also known as the black fungus, has died in the capital's Birdem Hospital, doctors said yesterday.

They hinted that this was probably the first case in the country in which a person who had recovered from Covid died of the rare fungal infection.

It comes after doctors at the same hospital said they had detected two other patients with black fungus. All three had recovered from Covid-19.

Alarmed by the development, the government yesterday instructed all hospitals and clinics across the country to report any suspected case of mucormycosis immediately.

"We have already instructed all hospitals and clinics to report any suspected black fungus case to the communicable diseases division," Nazmul Islam, director (disease control) at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), told The Daily Star.

He said the Public Health Advisory Committee was preparing a prevention and treatment protocol on black fungus infection. "We will release it as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, Health Minister Zahid Maleque yesterday said necessary steps were being taken to deal with black fungus, reports UNB.

"A few cases of black fungus have been detected in the country along with the Indian variant of Covid-19. But there is no need to panic over the disease as it hasn't spread that much," the minister said while inaugurating a vaccination programme at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Pharmaceutical companies have been asked to increase the production of medicines that are used to treat black fungus infection, he said, adding that the department concerned has been instructed about the treatment of the disease.

Zahid said discussions on producing vaccines in Bangladesh are underway. "Like medicines, export of vaccines will be possible after meeting the domestic demand."

Black fungus is caused by mold found in damp environments like soil or compost, and can attack the respiratory tract. It is not contagious and does not spread from person to person, says CNN.

Several types of fungi can cause the disease. These fungi are not harmful to most people, but can cause serious infections among those with weakened immune systems, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Black fungus commonly affects the sinuses or lungs after a person inhales fungal spores in the air, and can also affect the skin following a surface injury like a cut or burn. Symptoms depend on where in the body the fungus is growing, but can include facial swelling, fever, skin ulcers and black lesions in the mouth.

The disease "begins to manifest as skin infection in the air pockets located behind our forehead, nose, cheekbones, and in between the eyes and teeth," said the Indian Health Ministry in a statement on May 14. "It then spreads to eyes, lungs and can even spread to the brain. It leads to blackening or discoloration over the nose, blurred or double vision, chest pain, breathing difficulties and coughing of blood."

The Birdem Hospital in Dhaka yesterday disclosed that a patient suspected to have black fungus died at the facility on Sunday.

"The 65-year-old patient died with suspected black fungus. We are examining to confirm the case," Prof M Delwar Hossain, chairman of department of respiratory medicine at Birdem, told The Daily Star yesterday.

He said the patient had uncontrolled diabetes and kidney problems, but he had recovered from Covid-19.

About one admitted black fungus patient, he said he was given medicine and his condition was not that severe.

Hossain said they have already written to the DGHS about the admitted patient and also informed it about the medicine as it was expensive.

He said that the other black fungus infected patient, aged 45, was not taking treatment at the hospital.

Birdem Hospital revealed the two confirmed cases to The Daily Star on Monday. The two individuals are the first Covid-recovered patients detected at the facility with the rare fungal disease.

Health experts in Dhaka said there was no reason to panic as people of all ages are not at risk of the disease.

Covid-19 patients who are diabetic, take steroids, have cancer or transplanted organs and other comorbidities are susceptible to the infection, they said.

Coronavirus affects people's immune system and the treatment drugs further suppress their immune response, they added.

Over 7,200 people in India have been reported with black fungus and 219 of them have lost their lives, Indian media reported, quoting health officials. The rise in black fungus infections, mostly in patients who had severe coronavirus infections, has been linked to overuse of steroids, the reports add.

Five Indian states have declared black fungus as an epidemic.

A 2005 study on 929 cases dating back to 1885 found an overall mortality rate of 54 percent, according to the CDC.