Gurugram reports 1st death due to suspected black fungus

Gurugram: The city has reported first suspected death due to black fungus infection (Mucormycosis).

A 28-year-old man allegedly died due to suspected black fungus infection on May 16 at a private hospital in Gurugram. The youth was identified as Vikas Sharma (28). He was admitted to Max Hospital on May 15 after recovering from COVID-19.

However, the hospital management has mentioned the cause of death as cardiac arrest and he was also diagnosed with black fungus, according to the death summary.

The patient's family members have alleged that the hospital had demanded Rs 7.21 lakh as treatment charges just for 24 hours and later the bill was settled at Rs 3.50 lakh.

The deceased's family members said that Vikas had developed Covid symptoms on April 25 and he was admitted to a Rewari based private hospital and after three days of treatment he was discharged and was in home isolation and later he was cured of Covid-19.

The family said eventually on May 14, Vikas' health started deteriorating again and he lost his voice and vision and even black spots were visible on his face.

Thereafter, the family rushed him to a private hospital where several tests were conducted and all reports were normal but later on May 15 Vikas developed breathing problems and he was again taken to a private hospital where he was referred to the Artimis hospital and due to non availability of beds he was shifted to Max hospital.

"There at the hospital the management had demanded Rs 15 lakh as treatment charges but finally the hospital agreed to diagnose the patient for Rs 10.40 lakh and handed over the estimate to us. We had even submitted Rs 2.50 lakh as advance and Rs 1 lakh was paid via credit card," Vinod a family member said.

The family alleged that they suspected that Vikas had died on Saturday (May 15) night but neither doctors nor hospital staff informed them. On Sunday (May 16) morning the doctors declared him dead.

"Just for 24 hours of treatment the hospital handed over a bill of Rs 7.21 lakh and claimed that they had performed nose and throat surgery of the patient. Later when we protested for several hours against such huge amount the hospital authorities refused to hand over the body," he alleged.

The aggrieved family said they will soon file a complaint before the district administration.

"We have no information related with the matter. Also, if someone died in a hospital due to black fungus symptoms that particular hospital will have to inform the state government. The local health department has no such role on this issue," Virender Yadav, chief medical officer (CMO) Gurugram told IANS.

However, despite phone call and message, none from the hospital management was available for the comment.

In another case, a Covid patient who was also diagnosed with blank fungus and underwent treatment at the Fortis hospital, also died on Monday.

Fortis hospital in its statement said, "Patient was brought to Fortis Memorial hospital emergency on 16 May with complaints of difficulty in closing eyes, nasal bleeding and headache. On admission, she was found to be Covid positive through antigen test and was diagnosed with extensive mucormycosis extending to nose and orbit. Patient was a known case of hypertension and uncontrolled diabetes. She suffered a sudden cardiac arrest in the afternoon on May 17 and despite all efforts, patient could not be revived".