Covid-19:- Mucormycosis (Black Fungus) involves brain, eyes, nose: Dr Satish Gupta
Says Covid patients more prone to it, must take precautions
Jammu, May 17, 2021: A typically rare fungal infection called Mucormycosis has surged in India recently, primarily affecting people recovering from COVID-19 forcing doctors to sound an alert in J&K.
Dr Satish Gupta, Prof. & HoD Opthalmology, GMC Jammu while speaking to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), advised the public not to confuse it with Conjunctivitis and appealed to adopt Covid appropriate behavior.
He said that the mucormycosis is mainly involving brain, eyes and nose and can prove fatal.
Dr Gupta said that patients having poor immunity, uncontrolled diabetes, patients using steroid drugs for long time and symptoms are that blood or black stains coming from nose, eye pain along with swelling and eye can come little out.
“If it will involve the brain it can prove fatal, he said adding that covid positive patients and even recovered patients must follow Covid appropriate behavior in letter and spirit,” he said.
Experts say this type of fungal infection is extremely rare and that it may be affecting people whose immune systems have been damaged by the coronavirus.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source, this black fungus infection is called mucormycosis and is caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes Trusted Source that typically live in soil and decaying organic matter.
The infection can be life threatening and has a mortality rate between 46–96 percent depending on severity.
Experts said that those who are at risk for mucormycosis have compromised immune systems that make them susceptible to fungal and other opportunistic infections and this includes individuals who are currently fighting or have recently recovered from COVID-19 disease
“If the infection grows in the sinuses and brain (rhinocerebral mucormycosisTrusted Source), symptoms include fever, one-sided facial swelling, headache, and nasal or sinus congestion and if your lungs are affected by the fungus, you can experience cough, chest pain, and shortness of breath besides that when mucormycosis attacks the digestive system, you may experience abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, and gastrointestinal bleeding,” they added. “You can contract the fungus by inhaling the mold spores or when you come into contact with them in things like soil, rotting produce or bread, or compost piles and Mucormycosis is normally not spread person to person, but is found in the environment, however, due to the level of spread, it’s too early to say how this is spreading.”—(KNO)
