Black fungus in COVID Patients
Source : Indian Express
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Why in News ?

A rare but serious fungal infection, known as mucormycosis and colloquially as black fungus is being detected relatively frequently among Covid-19 patients in some states.

Key Facts

• The disease often manifests in the skin and also affects the lungs and the brain.
• With a number of mucormycosis cases detected in Delhi, Maharashtra and Gujarat, experts in the national Covid-19 task force issued an evidence-based advisory on the disease.
• About the disease?
  • It is a serious infection.
  • It is caused by a group of moulds known as mucormycetes present naturally in the environment.
  • It mainly affects people who are on medication for health problems that reduces their ability to fight environmental pathogens.
  • How get infected ? : Sinuses or lungs of such individuals get affected after they inhale fungal spores from the air.
  • Usually, mucormycetes does not pose a major threat to those with a healthy immune system.
  • Some groups of people are more vulnerable than others for those patients is uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, immunosuppression by steroids, prolonged ICU stay, and comorbidities post transplant/malignancy, voriconazole therapy.
• Symptoms
  • Warning signs include pain and redness around the eyes or nose, with fever, headache, coughing, shortness of breath, bloody vomits, and altered mental status.
  • Sinusitis, Local pain on the cheek bone, Blackish discoloration over bridge of nose/palate, Loosening of teeth, jaw involvement, Blurred or double vision, Thrombosis, necrosis, skin lesion, Chest pain, pleural effusion, worsening of respiratory symptoms.
• Treatment
  • It is treated with antifungals, mucormycosis may eventually require surgery.
  • Utmost importance to control diabetes, reduce steroid use, and discontinue immunomodulating drugs.
  • To maintain adequate systemic hydration, the treatment includes infusion of normal saline (IV) before infusion of amphotericin B and antifungal therapy, for at least 4-6 weeks.
• Treatment for COVID patient
  • Management of Covid patients with mucormycosis is a team effort involving microbiologists, internal medicine specialists, intensivist neurologist, ENT specialists, ophthalmologists, dentists, surgeons and others.
  • All these will be complicated for a COVID patient.
• Prevention
  • Use masks if you are visiting dusty construction sites.
  • Wear shoes, long trousers, long-sleeved shirts and gloves while handling soil (gardening), moss or manure.
  • Maintain personal hygiene including a thorough scrub bath.

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