Rare Fungal Infection Attacks Covid-19 Patients in India, South Asia News and Top Stories

In India, which has recovered from Covid-19, more and more patients are finding that they have to fight another pathogen again.

Physicians across the country have reported a surge in a rare fungal infection known as zygomycosis between those who have been cured and those who have recovered from Covid-19, a burden on India in the ongoing acute health crisis. Is increasing.

Mucor disease, commonly known as “black fungus”, is a very deadly disease caused by a group of molds called Mucor, which are commonly found in environments such as soil and rotten organic matter.

Most people have the immunity needed to fight it off, but fungi most commonly suppress immunity by inhalation because spores spread rapidly from the sinuses and infect other body tissues. You can easily break into someone who has been infected.

“I’m worried because it spreads rapidly into the patient’s body,” said Dr. Roshni Namibia, a Mumbai-based otolaryngologist who operated on some patients with mucormycosis.

“The time between a person being diagnosed and the time it may not be diagnosed can take several days,” she told The Straits Times. “It’s really aggressive.”

At Ahmedabad Municipal Hospital, the number of cases of mucormycosis has already exceeded 200 since last month. Doctors treated about 150 such patients between January last year and March this year. The hospital had to set up separate wards to accommodate these patients, adding about 30-40 beds daily from last week.

Even as governments and healthcare workers continue to fight the ongoing catastrophic second wave yesterday, India’s health minister, Harsh Vardhan, has decided to do a series of things for better management of patients with mucormycosis. Tweeted that it shouldn’t be.

The country reported 343,144 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, with a total of more than 24 million cases and an additional 4,000 deaths.

Dr. Maqsood Ali Khan, an otolaryngologist and skull base surgeon in Mumbai, told ST that he also saw an increase in patients with mucormycosis. He operated on three such patients last year, but in the past two months, Dr. Kahn had to operate on about 15 patients with Mucor’s disease.

“I removed the sinus tissue, removed the eyes, removed the bones of the palate … it depends on the severity of the disease,” he said.

Patients need timely surgery to remove infected or dead tissue to prevent the fungus from spreading to other parts of the body, such as the brain, and causing death. This is combined with antifungal therapy, which usually lasts 6-8 weeks.

The surge in cases of mucormycosis is not entirely out of place given the high number of cases of Covid-19 in India during the current second wave of infections. Such patients have low immune levels and provide a fertile basis for fungal growth.

• What is Mucormycosis?

• Mucor disease, also known as a “black fungus” infection or zygomycosis, is caused by a group of molds called mucors.

  Where can I find the fungi?

  The environment, especially the soil and rotten organic matter such as leaves, piles of compost and rotten trees.

  How do you get infected?

  By inhaling fungal spores that can attack the sinuses and lungs.

  Who is most at risk?

  People with health problems or taking medications that reduce the body’s ability to fight bacteria and illness.

  How serious is it?

  Rare but fatal infections can kill and injure patients, and some Covid-19 patients lose their maxilla and eyes after developing it.

  Some warning signs

  Pain and redness around the eyes and nose, shortness of breath, hematemesis, and changes in mental status.

Steroids prescribed to Covid-19 patients to reduce lung inflammation also suppress immunity and cause increased sugar content. The second wave shows a marked trend in self-medication among people recovering at home, leading to concerns about overuse of steroids.

Uncontrolled diabetes is another factor because it provides an environment that promotes Mucormicetes, which is known to reproduce in high glucose, high iron, and acidic conditions.

Patients are even at risk of catching fungi from contaminated water while using the oxygen concentrator.

The proliferation of mucormycosis patients has also resulted in a deficiency of the antifungal drug amphotericin B prescribed to such patients. In a statement Wednesday, the government said it was working with manufacturers to increase drug production and added that it was also increasing imports.

Dr. Bella Prajapati, director of otolaryngology at Ahmedabad Municipal Hospital, checks weekly blood glucose levels in patients who have recovered from Covid-19 and reports common symptoms associated with mucormycosis, such as facial pain and facial pain. He said he would recommend nasal endoscopy to the patient. Hanging eyelids.