More than 500 black fungus cases reported in Bihar so far; 76 have died

Bihar seemed to be in control of

COVID 19 on Sunday with only 487 fresh cases and eight fatalities being reported though a high incidence of black fungus cases has emerged as a fresh challenge.

The state health department came out with a statement that till date 562 cases of mucormycosis, notified by the Nitish Kumar government as an epidemic last month, have been reported across the state.

The post-COVID complication has so far claimed 76 lives while only 153 have, so far, been fully cured.

A majority of "black fungus" patients in the state are being treated at two hospitals based in the state capital - the AIIMS, Patna and the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS).

While AIIMS, Patna has so far admitted 148 patients, of whom 102 are still admitted, the 187 black fungus cases have been till date handled by the IGIMS and 114 of them are still undergoing treatment.

According to IGIMS superintendent Dr Manish Mandal, "our team of neurosurgeons led by Dr Brajesh Kumar successfully operated upon a 60-year-old patient and extracted a black fungus larger in size than an average cricket ball from his brain".

"The patient, Anil Kumar, is a resident of Jamui, who was rushed here after he suffered fits a number of times. The surgery continued for three hours and nearly 100 ml of pus was also removed from the brain", Dr Mandal said.

"Performing the surgery without causing any damage to the eyes was a big challenge. We take satisfaction in the fact that after the operation, the patient can see normally", he added.

The department also said total number of COVID 19 cases in the state, so far, stood at 7,17,215 of whom 7,02,411 have recovered while 9,492 have died. Number of active cases is 5,312 and the recovery rate is 97.94 per cent.

More than 1.21 crore people of the state, which has a population of about 13 crore, have been vaccinated so far.