India has experienced a disturbing outbreak of fungal infection triggered by coronavirus, which has a mortality rate of almost 50% – and can lead to blindness and removal of the nose and jaw, according to local reports.
The Gujarat Health Department has issued an opinion on the condition, called mucormycosis, which has been reported among COVID-19 patients in Ahmedabad and Rajkot, Indian Express reported.
“Mucormycosis is a type of fungal disease that infects those with compromised immune systems and other existing diseases, it is a serious infection with a mortality rate of almost 50 percent,” said the advisory.
Doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, a major private unit in Delhi that treats people from across Southeast Asia, have reported more than a dozen cases of the fungus, according to media reports.
Black fungus mucormycosis – formerly called zygomycosis – is a rare but serious infection caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes that exist in the environment.
The condition mainly affects people who have health problems or who take medications that decrease the body’s ability to remove germs.
“The frequency with which we witness COVID-induced mucormycosis with high morbidity and mortality is alarming,” Dr. Manish Munjal, a senior otolaryngologist at the hospital, told Indian Express.
“Early clinical suspicion of symptoms such as nasal obstruction, swelling of the eye or cheeks and dry black crusts in the nose should immediately cause a biopsy and start antifungal therapy as soon as possible,” he added.
Symptoms include pain, numbness of the face, nasal obstruction and swelling of the eyes, according to the report. If the infection reaches the lungs, symptoms may include fever, cough, chest pain, and difficulty breathing.
Cutaneous mucomycosis may look like blisters or ulcers, and the infected area may turn black. Gastrointestinal mucormycosis may be indicated by abdominal pain, vomiting, and bleeding.
In one case, a 32-year-old man who recovered from COVID-19 developed a nasal blockage and swelling of his eyes two days later. The left side of his face became completely numb and he was rushed to the hospital.
“His tests revealed the presence of high sugar and infection, but also more deadly, the presence of a rare killer fungus called Mucor, which was taken from the remains of the nose,” Munjal said.
“An MRI revealed that the infection had already destroyed a significant part of the sinuses on the left side, the eye, the upper jaw bone and the muscles and even made its way into the brain,” he added.
Surgeons removed the infected tissue from the patient, who received life-saving antifungal drugs and critical care for more than two weeks, according to Indian Express.
“Orbital involvement (the bone cavity that contains the eyeball) is a serious development during this disease and indicates not only the possibility of permanent vision loss, but also life, because the involvement of the brain is the main cause of death in mucormycosis. “Shaloo Bageja, a senior eye surgeon at the hospital, told Dr.