Ahmedabad: Yuvika Umeshchandra Saini, a 5-year-old girl from Gandhidham, was diagnosed with Mucormycosis, also known as the ‘Black Fungus’. Coupled with diabetes, her case came across as rarest of rare resulting in compromised immune defense of the body, which allowed some universally present organisms, to turn dangerous. She was initially admitted in a private hospital but looking at the complexity of the case her parents were advised to take her to Adani G. K. General Hospital, Bhuj.
There she was admitted in ICU of the ENT department where Dr. Narendra Hirani, Chief Medical Superintendent, Professor and Head ENT, Adani G. K. General Hospital, led this rare case of black fungus in a diabetic child. “When Yuvika came in, her sugar level was beyond control and she complained of nasal bleeding. We did an endoscopy followed by a nasal swab that confirmed Mucormycosis. The disease has 30% mortality rate, meaning that 1 of 3 patients don’t survive this. We were on toes and a special team of doctors was formed to treat her. She was injected amphotericin B and isoconazole was used in her treatment too. It took 15 days for her sugar level to come down. What was challenging was her regular nasal cleaning sessions as she wasn’t co-operative. We can’t blame her, she is just a child and in turn the team of doctors and nurses had to be very patient,” shared Dr. Hirani.
After 42 days of intensive care and treatment by a team of doctors—Dr. Rekhaben Thadani, Dr. Karan Patel, Dr. Nisarg Desai, Dr. Ajit Khilwani, Dr. Raunak Bodat, Dr. Rashmi Sorathiya—little Yuvika slowly recovered and got a new lease of life. “The treatment process could have costed them anywhere between Rs 10-15 lakh of rupees, but we did it for free and have discharged her with post-care medicines for 3 months,” averred Dr. Hirani. Doctors concurred that the treatment cost is high as multiple vials of the main drug used in black fungus treatment is expensive which makes it equivalent to treating at least 10-15 Covid-19 patients in place of one Black Fungus patient.
