States scramble to fight black fungus amid a relentless second Covid wave

State task forces are working to detect the causes of this disease and design protocols for treatment.

The rise in the cases of the epidemic mucormycosis, which comes at a time when the country is battling the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, has state governments scrambling as they try to source medicines and develop adequate treatment protocols.

Maharashtra, which has 2,200 patients, is arranging for 60,000 additional vials of Amphotericin-B, a drug used to treat the disease, from June 1. This is over and above allocations made by the Centre.

Says Rommel Tickoo, director, internal medicine, Max Healthcare: “Almost always the patient is diabetic. And most are Covid patients who have been on higher steroid doses or have