Two rare cases of black fungus infection in the intestine were noted at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on Saturday.
A foot of the small intestine had to be removed in one case, in the other, doctors excised 2.5 feet of the intestine.
One of them did not receive steroid, the misuse of which has been blamed for the rise in the number of fungal infection cases.
These infections are considered rare the nose, ears and brain are the areas which usually get affected by the fungal infection. Before this, there was not any incidence of the Intestine getting infected by the fungal infection reported in India so far.
“These patients, in the majority, are immune-compromised. Majority of gastro-intestinal mucormycosis is seen in organ transplant recipients. The cases treated at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital were unique as they had Covid and small intestine (instead of stomach/colon) was involved in both cases,” the statement released by the hospital said.
“Both patients complained of abdominal discomfort and only CT scans showed us that the intestine was perforated,” said Dr Ushast Dhir, senior consultant, surgical gastroenterology, was quoted as saying by The Times Of India. “While one of the patients had not been given any steroids for Covid, the other was given steroids for a week. Luckily, both of them are doing well now but require monitoring.”, he said further.
One of the patients, a 58-year-old man, had lost three members of his family to Covid. His wife was of the family members who succumbed to the infection. He started experiencing stomach pains soon after completing the last rite. The other, a 68-year-old and a Covid patient like the first man, was a diabetic and had been treated with steroids.
