Cricket ball-sized black fungus removed from man's brain in Patna, patient's condition stable

Doctors at Patna based Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) on Friday successfully removed mucormycosis or black fungus from the brain of a 60-year-old infected patient. The size of the fungus was equivalent to the size of a cricket ball and the surgery went on for three hours.

A report in Hindustan Times said that the patient Anil Kumar, a resident of Jamui, had recently recovered from Covid-19 and was suffering from frequent episodes of dizziness and faintings for the past few days.

Kumar was then referred to IGIMS and was detected with mucormycosis. His condition is stable now.

Dr Manish Mandal, who performed the three-hour long surgery, said the fungus entered Kumar’s brain through his nose but did not spread to his eyes. The 60-year-old patient’s eyes remained unharmed during the surgery. In majority of the similar cases the patients eyes had to be removed.

Bihar has reported more than 500 cases of mucormycosis or black fungus so far. The state government had declared mucormycosis as an epidemic on May 22.

People get infected by black fungus after coming in contact with fungal spores in the environment. The disease is mostly detected among people who recently recovered from Covid-19, diabetic patients and those with low immunity.

Bihar reported less than 500 fresh COVID-19 cases and under 20 fatalities on Saturday when it was also left with an active caseload of under 6,000, all reassuring signs that the second wave was on the wane. According to the state health department, the number of fresh cases was 432 which took the overall tally to 7,16,728 while 18 fatalities raised the death toll to 9484.