Most black fungus patients were in need of surgery, say doctors

Tamil Nadu: The Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital has handled a high number of patients with black fungus. According to the dean, E. Theraniranjan, 863 mucormycosis patients have been treated so far.

He said, “While 362 persons recovered and were recovered and were discharged, we currently have 395 patients undergoing treatment. We have been receiving patients from both government and private hospitals across the State and other States such as Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.”

The special mucormycosis clinical has so far screened 944 patients, he said, adding, “The ENT department has been performing surgeries on at least 18 to 20 patients a day.”

R. Muthukumar, director, Institute of Otorhinolaryngology, RGGGH, said that so far, they have performed 600 major surgeries and 900 endoscopic suction clearance. The major surgeries included endoscopic sinus surgeries, endoscopic orbital decompressions, endoscopic maxillectomy and total maxillectomy.

“The fungus is all around. When the immunity is lowered in the post-COVID period, it starts invading the issues and blood vessels. The blood supply to the tissue is cut, and it leads to infarction and necrosis of the tissue. The fungus thrives on the decaying organic matter, and our aim is to remove the necrotic tissue,” he said.