Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Wednesday said the state will have a new COVID-19 discharge policy and post-COVID precautions in view of the rising cases of Black Fungus infection. Speaking to media after holding a meeting with experts on containment of Black Fungus infection, Dr Sudhakar said, It has been decided to formulate a new discharge policy and post-COVID precautions for patients who have recovered from COVID-19 infection. There is more clarity now after meeting with the experts. It has been found that administering steroids in the first week of treatment of COVID-19 is one of the main causes of Black Fungus infection. We need to avoid this and steroids should be administered only from the second week, the Minister added.
Karnataka has been hit with hundreds of cases of Mucormycosis or Black Fungus. The state is trying to change its approach to tackle this new challenge in the pandemic.
Synopsis
The health department has directed all district hospitals to have a dedicated post-Covid ward. “All Covid recovered patients should either visit this ward a week after their discharge or avail service through tele-consultation to find any trace of fungal infections,” health minister K Sudhakar said.
Agencies
According to the preliminary report on black mucormycosis carried out by a team of doctors, cases are mostly found in small hospitals, taluk hospitals and in rare instances of home isolation.
Karnataka on Wednesday announced a new discharge policy for Covid patients, making it mandatory to get tested for black fungus infection and MRI scan if necessary, during the hospital discharge. The decision came in the backdrop of a rise in the number of black fungus cases among Covid recovered individuals.
Express News Service
BENGALURU: A five-month-old girl child, who suffered Covid along with dengue co-infection, acute leukoencephalopathy (disease of white matter in the brain) and West syndrome (epileptic/infantile spasms, abnormal brain wave patterns), was successfully treated for Covid and dengue. Doctors from the Department of Paediatrics at the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute have now published a case study on this in the Journal of Tropical Paediatrics.
The infant was presented with fever, refusal of feeding, developing altered sensorium, decreased responsiveness and convulsions. On day 10, an RT-PCR test was conducted for Covid, which turned positive. Dengue and Covid co-infection surmounted a massive cytokine storm leading to Acute Leukoencephalopathy with Restricted Diffusion, the studym titled “Acute Leukoencephalopathy with Restricted Diffusion in an Infant with Severe Covid-19 and Dengue Co-infection Progressing to West Syndrome’’, said.