Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has cautioned citizens against indiscriminate and excessive use of steroids, saying that it is leading to coronavirus-related complications.

during an inspection carried out of a newly-installed oxygen plant and the construction progress of new Covid-19 blocks at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi,  the health minister said that he hoped his advice helps reduce the number of mucormycosis infections being reported countrywide.

“People are taking heavy doses of steroids even when they have not turned hypoxic,” Vardhan said. “Steroids are to be provided only when a patient is hypoxic, to be administered in small doses to prevent side effects and not more than a few days at a stretch. Recommendations of a doctor is must for the use of these medicines.”

Hypoxic is used to refer to patients who suffer from hypoxia, a condition in which the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply at the tissue level. The condition can affect the whole body or some region.

Mucormycosis, or “black fungus”, has been found in several coronavirus patients across the country, mostly after they have recovered. The condition involves headache, fever, pain under the eyes, nasal or sinus congestion, and partial loss of vision.

The rare infection is caused by a fungus named mucor, which is found on wet surfaces. Rajasthan, which has around 100 black fungus patients at Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur, has declared it an epidemic in the state.

He said that Safdarjung Hospital will soon be equipped with another oxygen plant with a capacity of 2 metric tonnes. “Similarly, 1,051 plants are in the process of being established with the help of DRDO, CSIR and HITEC all over the country.

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