NEW DELHI—A 52-year-old diabetic was recovering from Covid-19 at his home in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad in late April when his blood sugar levels shot up to four times the normal level. The left side of Yaseen Ahmed’s face, including his eye, nose and gums started to swell, and there was some discharge.
Mr. Ahmed was diagnosed with a rare but often deadly fungal infection afflicting thousands recovering from Covid-19 in India, where doctors are running out of an antifungal drug used to treat it.
The infection, mucormycosis, also known as “black fungus” because it turns body tissue black, is mostly affecting people with diabetes. With 77 million diabetics out of an adult population of more than 850 million, India has the second highest number of diabetics in the world, behind China.
“We didn’t know anything about mucormycosis,” said Mr. Ahmed’s son, Wasay Ahmed.
The New Delhi city government said Thursday it had set up mucormycosis treatment centers at three government hospitals in the capital. Many states have reported more than 500 cases each, authorities said on May 15. The health minister for the western state of Maharashtra, home to India’s financial hub Mumbai, said on Thursday that 1,500 people in the state were infected. Some patients have died. Others have lost their eyesight.