Mucormycosis, also known as Black Fungus, is a rare but serious condition that has been reported in a number of coronavirus patients, particularly in Maharashtra. Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan advised people on the early detection and management of the disease on Friday.
“Awareness and early diagnosis can help curb the spread of the fungal infection,” the minister said as he shared four slides on the fungus, symptoms and required action once someone contracts the infection.
Here are some FAQs on the disease that were addressed by the minister:
What is Mucormycosis?
Mucormycosis is a fungal infection mainly affecting people with medical health problems that reduces their ability to fight environmental pathogens.
How can a patient contract the infection?
Mucormycosis is a fungal infection that primarily affects people with medical conditions and impairs their ability to fight pathogens in the environment.
How can a patient contract the infection?
People with co-morbidities, variconazole therapy, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, immunosuppression with steroids, or a long stay in the ICU are at risk for fungus infection.
What are possible symptoms of Mucormycosis?
Fever, headache, coughing, shortness of breath, bloody vomit, and altered mental status are all possible symptoms of the infection, according to the minister.
In a tweet, the minister advised, “Don’t consider all cases of blocked nose as cases of bacterial sinusitis, especially in cases of immunosuppression and/or COVID-19 patients on immunomodulators.”
Following the discovery of a few recovering and recovered COVID-19 patients infected with the fungus, mucormycosis has become a hot topic.
According to Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope, there could be over 2,000 such cases in the state right now, and as more COVID-19 cases emerge, “their number will undoubtedly increase.”
According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, 111 patients, all COVID-19 survivors, are being treated for mucormycosis in hospitals in the state capital Mumbai (BMC). The fungal infection caused a 44-year-old man in Mumbai to lose his vision.
According to officials quoted by the news agency Press Trust of India, the state has decided to create a separate database of mucormycosis cases in order to assess the disease’s actual spread and how to combat it.
