India has reported a total of 45,374 cases of a fungal infection, known as mucormycosis, and 4,332 related deaths, the country’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
In a written reply to the upper house of the parliament, Bharati Pravin Pawar, the junior health minister, said that the highest number of deaths from mucormycosis were registered in the western state of Maharashtra (1,129), followed by Gujarat with 656 fatalities.
The minister said that 20,277 patients are still under treatment, while 19,073 have recovered.
During the second devastating wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country recorded a huge increase of mucormycosis cases – a fungal disease that is commonly referred to as “black fungus”.
The Health Ministry said that for the last two months, mucormycosis cases in the country is showing a downward trend.
Mucormycosis is a dangerous fungal infection that mainly affects people who have a weak immune system causing loss of eyesight, removal of the nose and jaw bone.
Meanwhile, the country registered 30,093 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to over 31.3 million. The nationwide death toll stands at 414,482, as 374 new deaths were reported over the past day.
