New Delhi, June 9: The government has allocated an additional 1.7 lakh vials of Amphotericin-B drug, used to treat black fungus infection, to states and union territories, Union Minister Sadananda Gowda said on Wednesday.

"Ensuring adequate availability and smooth supply of #Amphotericin-B across the country, additional 1,70,000 vials of the drug have been allocated to all the States/UTs & Central Institutions today," the chemicals and fertilisers minister tweeted.

Gowda added that an additional 15,520 vials of the critical drug have been allocated to Karnataka. "So far, a total of 40,470 vials of the drug have been allocated to the state including today's allocation for timely treatment of patients," he said. Mucormycosis in India: What Makes People Prone to Black Fungus? Know How the Fungal Infection Is Linked With Diabetes, Post COVID-19 Treatment and More.

Amphotericin-B is used to treat Mucormycosis, also known as black fungus, which damages the nose, eyes, sinuses, and sometimes even the brain.

Mucormycosis can be life-threatening in diabetic or severely immuno-compromised individuals such as cancer patients or people with HIV/AIDS.

The doctors in India are documenting an alarming number of cases of Mucormycosis among patients with COVID-19 and those who have recently recovered. They believe that Mucormycosis may be triggered by the use of steroids, a life-saving treatment for severe and critically ill COVID-19 patients.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)