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