Bombay HC to Maharashtra: Have you made people aware of prevention of black fungus?

MUMBAI: The

Bombay high court

on Tuesday asked the

state

government what it has done to create awareness about the

prevention

of mucormycosis or the black fungus disease.

“Have you given adequate publicity so that people are aware and they don’t get it?” asked a bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish Kulkarni while hearing a PIL on Covid-19 management.

The court was told as on June 7 there were 6,287 mucormycosis cases in Maharashtra. Advocate-general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni submitted that globally the number varies from 0.005 to 1.7 per million population and it is 80 times higher in India. “India is the second most populous country and we also have a large number of diabetic patients. So we have more cases,” he said. When the judges quizzed about the protocol to identify and treat patients, the AG said the Centre has issued guidelines.

“These are measures to let people know that if you take precautions, there is less chance of infection,” the CJ remarked.

Advocate Atharva Dandekar said mucormycosis prognosis is quick and patients have no warning. “It spreads to the eye and within weeks to the brain. There is a need for early detection,” he said, adding there must be a campaign on automated calls, voicemails and billboards. The judges agreed with him. “You (the state) need to tell people how to avoid this disease. The dos and don’ts have to be scrupulously followed,’’ said the CJ, pointing out (from the Centre’s guidelines) that “toothache is also one of the symptoms”.

The judges also enquired about Covid-19 prevention measures in children in view of an expected third wave. “Going by the old saying ‘prevention is better than cure’, you have to find out. We have to tell parents so that their children should not do a particular thing or go to places where they can get infected,” the CJ said.

Earlier, the AG said, the state expected to get the first batch of 40,000 vials of amphotericin- B for mucormycosis from Haffkine on June 10. The judges batted for “equitable allocation” of amphotericin-B, saying “on an average, one-fourth of the total production should come to Maharashtra where the situation is more severe”.


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