Mucormycosis claimed another life in Ranchi on Tuesday, taking the toll in the district alone to six and that in Jharkhand to 19, while three confirmed and three suspected cases of the fungal infection surfaced in the state during the past 48 hours.

According to data released by the health department on Tuesday, the total number of black fungus cases in Jharkhand was stood at 66. Besides the confirmed cases, as many as 46 suspected cases of mucormycosis have also been reported in the state so far. Samples of these suspected patients have been collected for lab tests to ascertain the nature of their infection, officials said.

Of the 66 patients who were found to be suffering from Mucormycosis, as many as 14 have recovered and were subsequently discharged from hospital, latest data released by the health department on Tuesday revealed. The mortality rate, however, was higher than the recovery rate among mucormycosis patients in the state.

With 26 confirmed and 11 suspected cases, Ranchi has reported the highest number of mucormycosis cases in Jharkhand. The district has also reported the highest number of deaths caused by the fungal infection. On the other hand, East Singhbhum has reported 16 confirmed and three suspected cases of mucormycosis so far.

Among other districts, Dhanbad has reported five confirmed cases, while Ramgarh has reported four confirmed and three suspected cases of the fungal infection. Two confirmed cases each were reported in Palamau, Koderma, Hazaribagh, Giridih and Chatra.

As per government data, at least four mucormycosis patients have died in East Singhbhum, two each in Dhanbad and Ramgarh and one each in Chatra, Deoghar, Dumka, Hazaribagh and Latehar.

Mucormycosis is a rare infection caused by exposure to mucor mould found in soil, plants, manure and decaying fruits and vegetables. The line of treatment includes surgery and administering anti-fungal drugs, mostly Amphotericin B.

Doctors treating mucormycosis patients in the state stressed on the importance of multidisciplinary treatment for preventing deaths. Dr Anindya Anuradha of Bhagwan Mahavir Medica Superspecialty Hospital in Ranchi said that the chances of saving patients of mucormycosis was higher if doctors from various departments formed a special team for treating the disease.

“Multidisciplinary approach towards treatment of mucormycosis patients is common in other states. We need to incorporate such treatment measures in our state as well,” she said.

Several thousand cases of Covid-induced mucormycosis were reported in India in the past one month and doctors claimed that use of high dosage steroids for treatment of severely-ill Covid patients was one of the reasons for the spike.

In May, the state government made mucormycosis a notifiable disease and asked the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) to maintain records related to the lethal fungal infection. The civil surgeons of all the districts have been asked to report fresh confirmed and suspected cases of mucormycosis to the IDSP every day.