India has recorded 45,000 cases of ‘black fungus’ in the last two months.
The record-breaking number of the deadly fungus comes as the South Asian country fought a coronavirus surge.
The country’s junior health minister Bharati Pravin Pawar told parliament on Tuesday that over 4,200 people had died of the fungus or with the scientific name ‘mucormycosis’.
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Cases of black fungus infection were relatively rare but had rapidly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The death rate from this fungal infection is at 50 percent.
In an AFP report, some surgeons have been forced to remove eyes, the nose, and jaw from patients to stop it from spreading to the brain.
The highest number of black fungus cases was recorded at the western state of Maharashtra at 9,348.
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Black fungus or mucormycosis causes blackening or discoloration over the nose, blurred or double vision, chest pain, breathing difficulties, and coughing of blood.
Patients with comorbidities like diabetes and a weak immune system are prone to infection. (TDT)
