Patient, who recovered from Covid and diagnosed with black fungus, died three days ago at a Dhaka hospital
The Birdem General Hospital in Dhaka said a patient diagnosed with black fungus died while undergoing treatment.
The sample of the patient, who died three days ago, was sent for further test and came back as positive for black fungus on Monday, Birdem’s Head of Microbiology Shariful Alam Jilani told Dhaka Tribune.
The 65-year-old man tested positive for Covid-19 a month ago, said Professor M Delwar Hossain, head of Respiratory Medicine of the hospital.
"He was admitted to the hospital with post-Covid complications. He had diabetes too. The patient died three days ago,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Birdem Hospital’s Director General MKI Quayyum Choudhury told the media that the person was diagnosed with black fungus while undergoing medical tests this month.
“The patient was earlier diagnosed with coronavirus in Khulna,” media reports quoted him.
Also Read - India reports nearly 9,000 cases of black fungus
A senior official of the government’s disease control agency said that two cases of black fungus have been detected.
“The hospital authorities are yet to inform us officially,” Tahmina Shirin, director of Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), told the daily Prothom Alo.
Citing hospital officials, the Bangla daily said that the two patients, who recovered from Covid-19, were undergoing treatment at the Birdem Hospital.
One of the patients was detected with black fungus on May 8 while the other on May 23, it said.
Black fungus, also known as mucormycosis, is normally a rare infection which has a mortality rate of 50%.
Also Read - What is 'black fungus'?
In recent months, thousands of cases involving recovered and recovering Covid-19 patients have been recorded in India.
According to doctors, there is a link with the steroids used to treat Covid-19 while diabetics are at particular risk. The fungus seems to strike 12 to 18 days after recovery from Covid-19.
What is mucormycosis?
Mucormycosis is a relatively uncommon infection. Mucor mould, which is commonly found in dirt, seeds, manure, and rotting fruits and vegetables, causes it.
It is ubiquitous and found in soil and air and even in the nose and mucus of healthy people.
It affects the sinuses, the brain, and the lungs, and it can be fatal in diabetics or people who are seriously immune-compromised, such as cancer patients or people with HIV-Aids.
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