The Darjeeling district health department has alerted doctors on mucormycosis or black fungus and said they have been keeping surveillance on the symptoms. Mucormycosis has been confirmed in a 50-year-old woman from Siliguri yesterday. The woman today underwent surgery at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH), where she is undergoing treatment for the past few days with sinuses, and problems in the skin on the face and forehead, palates, and eyes.

The woman has also been diagnosed with uncontrolled diabetes. She was previously found to be positive for Covid19, and later she developed swelling on the right side of her face, had fever, blindness and facial pain. This is perhaps the first ‘notified’ mucormycosis case associated with Covid-19 during the second wave of the pandemic in north Bengal.

An advisory issued by the health department of West Bengal has underlined the warning signs of the disease, such as pain and redness around the eyes or nose, fever, headache, coughing and shortness of breath, along with vomiting blood, altered mental status-general changes in brain function like confusion, amnesia, loss of alertness and disorientation.

Those having health conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes, suppression of the immune system by steroids, prolonged stay in ICU, comorbidities involving post-transplant and malignancy are prone to the fungal disease, it said. “We have received the guidelines on mucormycosis and sensitised doctors today,” said the Darjeeling district chief medical officer of health Dr Pralay Acharya.

Sources said the doctors received an online orientation on the disease, and that antifungal Amphotericin-B injection will be used to treat the disease. The deputy chief medical officer of health-II, Dr Tulsi Pramanik, said doctors had been asked to keep close watch on the symptoms, and that positive and suspected cases will be treated at the NBMCH.

“All the doctors of primary health centres, block primary health centres, and peripheral hospitals have been sensitised,” Dr Pramanik said. Meanwhile, a multidisciplinary team of ophthalmology anesthesia and ENT surgeons performed the surgery on the woman with black fungus today. Further efforts are being made to save her life, sources said.

“The surgery was performed at the ENT department with doctors of the anesthesia and ophthalmology departments. Debridement along with the removal of upper jaw, eyeball, skin over the face, forehead and other sinuses on the right side was done. The patient is doing well postoperation and has been shifted to the Critical Care Unit for better management,” said the head of the ENT department, NBMCH, Dr Radheshyam Mahato.

On the other hand, state health department officials said there were 12 confirmed cases of mucormycosis in the state so far. Of them, four persons are from Bihar, and one from Jharkhand. “Out of the 12 confirmed cases, six are Covid-19 or post Covid-19 related, and three out of five suspects. Others are not associated with Covid-19. It has been observed that almost all have uncontrolled diabetes,”‘ said the director of health services of the health and family welfare department, Dr Ajoy Chakraborty.

Dip in Siliguri daily Covid cases Meanwhile, the Siliguri Municipal Corporation areas, including those under Jalpaiguri district, reported a drop in daily Covid-19 cases today.  It logged 194 new cases. Darjeeling district, on the other hand, registered 375 cases, sources said. Eighty-nine cases were found in Naxalbari, 71 in Matigara, 18 in Mirik, 13 each in Kurseong Municipality, Sukna and Takdah, 11 in Darjeeling Municipality, nine in Phansidewa, six each in Bijanbari and Sukhia Pokhari and three cases in Kharibari.

A total of 332 people also recovered in the last 24 hours, the sources said. Nine Covid patients die Eight persons, who had tested positive for Covid-19, died at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital today, and one died in a private hospital, sources said. Vaccine protest Many people, including senior citizens, who had queued up since the wee hours today to get the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccineCovaxin–at an Urban Primary Health Centre at Champasari in Siliguri lost their cool after they were allegedly turned away.

“I had taken the first dose of Covaxin on 12 April. I have been turned down daily for the past few days, as the vaccine is not available, and I had been waiting in the queues for several hours. If this continues to happen, then why were we administered the first dose? Will there be any efficacy if the gap between the two doses is too long?” said a 58-year-old woman.

Unlike Covishield, two doses of Covaxin are administered within a gap of 28 days. Police later brought the situation under control, it is learnt.