Amid black fungus spike, Centre issues prevention guidelines to states, UTs

Amid a sudden spike in cases of COVID-19 triggered mucormycosis, the Centre on Friday released guidelines for all states and union territories to follow as precautionary measures.

In a letter, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan urged the chief secretaries and administrators of all states and UTs to undertake some activities to ensure robust infection prevention and control practices in COVID-19 hospitals and facilities.

Here are the guidelines that states and UTs have to follow in order to prevent the deadly black fungus infection:

1. Establish an infection control committee with the head of the institution or administrator as the chairperson.

2. Designate an infection prevention and control nodal officer- preferably a microbiologist or senior infection control nurse.

3. Prepare and implement the Infection Prevention Control (IPC) programme in the healthcare facilities, as per the health ministry’s guidelines.

4. Emphasise and strengthen procedures and practices for IPC. This will include taking standard COVID precautions and transmission-based precautions to protect healthcare workers and patients.

Also read: White fungus more dangerous than Black fungus: All you need to know

5. Improve the environment by focusing on natural ventilation, disinfecting the hospital environment, safe water and food, biomedical waste management.

6. IPC needs to be enhanced in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) using a bundle approach to prevent device-associated infections such as ventilator-associated pneumonia or catheter-associated bloodstream, urinary infections etc. 

7. IPC should be practised in clinical laboratories and those attached to hospitals.

Also read: Make mucormycosis notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act: Centre to States

8. Meticulous adherence to IPC while managing immunocompromised patients, such as COVID patients on steroid treatments, with co-morbidities.

9. Train hospital staff to develop their skills with IPC, irrespective of their individual routine duties.

10. A state nodal officer needs to be identified to monitor the implementation of IPC.