Thousands of coronavirus patients in India have had their eyes removed amid a worrying "black fungus" outbreak which is sweeping the country alongside the pandemic .
The outbreak has overwhelmed some hospitals and caused panic, with about 60 per cent of patients having one or both of their eyes removed.
The rare and deadly condition - mucormycosis, which is also known as "black fungus" - is caused by naturally present moulds known as mucromycetes which can kill people with a weak immune system.
Symptoms include blackening or discolouration over the nose, blurred or double vision, chest pain, breathing difficulties and coughing blood.
Doctors believe the outbreak is being caused by the steroids used to treat severe Covid-19 because the drugs reduce immunity and push up sugar levels.
Have you been affected by the "black fungus" outbreak? Email webnews@mirror.co.uk.
The "black fungus" outbreak has put further pressure on hospitals which are struggling to cope with the world's highest number of daily Covid-19 infections.
The western state of Gujarat is creating special wards because it has had so many cases, and the north-western state of Rajasthan has declared mucormycosis an epidemic.
Before the pandemic, doctors would see three to four cases a year. Now, they help as many as six patients a day.
Specialists have seen patients in their early 20s have lost both eyes.
India is also grappling with a shortage of medicine - the drug amphotericin B - used to treat the rare fungal disease.
In the western state of Maharashtra, health minister Rajesh Tope told reporters: "One patient needs 60 to 100 injections (of amphotericin B) depending on severity of illness.
"With current case load, we need more than 150,000 injections."
It has reported 1,500 cases of mucormycosis so far, and 850 patients are undergoing treatment.
The southern states of Kerala and Karnataka have extended their Covid lockdowns to try to keep the fungal disease from spreading.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter : "In this battle of ours, another new challenge of black fungus has also emerged these days."
Most of the 7,000-plus people who have developed mucormycosis did so during or after their battle with coronavirus.
"Black fungus" sufferer Anil Wankhede, 54, developed a headache and a swollen right eye after he was discharged from hospital after being treated for Covid.
He told the Times his right eye had closed by the time he tried to get help.
After seeing several doctors, he was finally diagnosed with mucormycosis.
Dr Akshay Nair told him his life was in danger and the only option was an operation which would remove his right eye and strip his sinuses to prevent the fungus from spreading.
Dr Nair said: "If we don't remove the entire contents, along with all the tissue, nerves and eyelid, the infection can invade the brain.
"At the stage, we can't save their lives."
Dr Renuka Bradoo, who works at Sion Hospital in Mumbai, called it "an epidemic within a pandemic".
India has the world's second highest number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 (26,344,303), behind the US, which has had 33,862,557.
India's official Covid death toll is 296,094, the third highest total in the world.
The US has reported the most deaths (603,409), followed by Brazil (446,527).
