Measures Taken to Tackle Black Fungus: Health Minister

Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Tuesday said necessary measures are being taken to combat black fungus and urged everyone not to be afraid of the disease because it has not spread widely in Bangladesh, reports UNB.

While inaugurating a vaccination program at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, the minister said, “A few cases of black fungus have been detected in the country along with the Indian variant of Covid-19. But there’s no need to panic over the disease as it hasn’t spread that much.”

He said that pharmaceutical firms have been asked to increase development of medicines used to treat black fungus infection and that the relevant department has been given instructions on how to treat the disease.

The Health Minister also said discussions are underway over producing vaccines in Bangladesh. “Like medicines, it’ll be possible to export vaccines after meeting the domestic demand,” he added.

At Dhaka's BIRDEM Hospital, two Covid-19 patients were found to be infected with a "black fungus."  

Professor Delwar Hossain, head of the Respiratory Medicine Department at the hospital, told UNB earlier in the day that two patients, recovered from Covid-19 infections, have been infected by black fungus with one undergoing treatment at the hospital.

India has reported more than 8,800 cases of deadly "black fungus" in a growing epidemic of the disease, reports the BBC.