In what has become a double whammy amid the ordeal brought by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, India has been witnessing an emergence of new health threats, fueling the distress in normal lives. The severity of the pandemic has recently opened the doors for the outbreak of Mucormycosis or Black Fungus infection.

Several states in India are witnessing an unprecedented surge of black fungus infection, which is equally life-threatening as the pandemic. The rise of cases and fatalities connected to the black fungus infection had prompted the Central government to direct the states to declare Mucormycosis as a notifiable disease and the states are initiating the measures and procuring the medicines to cure the black fungus infection amid battling the novel coronavirus. 

While India has been bracing up an anguishing state in the wake of the black fungus infection, the country has now shockingly reported the spread of 'White Fungus' infection, which is said to be more dangerous than the black fungus. According to reports, at least four cases of white fungus infection have been traced in Bihar as India's health machinery is meeting a new challenge in addressing the latest threat. 

The reports say that cases of white fungus have so far been reported in Patna Medical College and Hospital. The experts' alarm that White Fungus is deadlier than black fungus because it could affect viral functioning of the body, collapsing the immune system of a person to fight the disease. They further say that people with low immunity, diabetes, and those who have undergone kidney transplants are more susceptible to this disease and if a person has these ailments and already tested positive and recovered from COVID-19, they must be more cautious. 

Dr SN Singh, who is the head of the Microbiology department in Patna Medical College and Hospital, told a news agency that there could be many more cases of such infection in the country. The new threat emerges from Bihar when the state has already reported 50 cases of black fungus and two deaths. 

According to reports, the treatment of this new fungal infection requires a multidisciplinary approach consisting of eye surgeons, general surgeons, ENT specialists, and neurosurgeons. The medical world prescribes Amphotericin-B injection to treat fungal infection. The reports say that of the four cases of White Fungus infection, one is a famous doctor from Patna and the infections would be seen in lungs, nails, skin, stomach, brain, kidney, and mouth. 

Dr SN Singh further said that all four persons infected by White Fungus showed symptoms similar to coronavirus but they were not COVID-19 positive. He added that their lungs were found infected and after tests, they were given anti-fungal medicines. White Fungus is also affecting the COVID-19 patients who are on oxygen support. So far, Patna, which is the epicentre of the white fungus infection hasn't reported the infection in the COVID-19 patients. 

Must-read: TNS Explainer: What is 'Black Fungus' infection and why it is a cause of worry in India?