Mucormycosis: All you need to know about the 'black fungus'

Mucormycosis, commonly known as the 'black fungus', is a fungal infection, which is on a rise in patients who have recovered from COVID-19. Though a rare infection, delayed detection and treatment can lead it to be a fatal one. Formerly known as zygomycosis, it is a disease caused by fungi belonging to the fungal family 'Mucorales'. These fungi generally infect people with an impaired immune system.

Mucormycosis has been there and we have been seeing these cases for years. But there is a sudden boom in the number of infections in India and basically there are two reasons for it, the first one being diabetes. Earlier, before COVID-19, the major risk factor for mucormycosis was highly uncontrolled diabetes.

Mucormycosis is now majorly seen in patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 and some of the cases are being seen even when the patient is being hospitalised for COVID-19 treatment. However, majority of the cases are being reported in patients after recovering from COVID-19. Photo: AP

One of the major reasons why patients are contracting the fungal infection post COVID-19 is steroid use. Inappropriate use of high dose of steroids could be one of the major risk factors for mucormycosis. Also, a lot of diabetic persons are at a high risk of testing positive for COVID-19, and many even get diabetes during COVID-19 treatment. Photo: AP

Patient while admitted or post-COVID complain of loosening of the teeth, pain in the teeth, pain in the cheek or pain in the eye. In post-COVID cases, it affects the nose, sinuses and sometimes it even invades the nervous system. So if someone who has recovered from coronavirus has a bleeding nose or severe, unbearable cheek pain, dental pain, loosening of the teeth or severe eye pain or headache, then one has to think about whether they are dealing with mucormycosis and they should quickly get it checked from an ENT surgeon. Photo: AP

It is not mandatory that a person who has recovered from COVID-19 is bound to get infected by the black fungus. The fungal infection can be safely avoided by taking certain precautions, which include wearing a mask even after testing negative. Another precautionary measure is that the recovered person has to strictly monitor their sugar levels and keep it in check.

The medical treatment for mucormycosis ranges from 6 to 12 weeks and is sometimes associated with adverse effects. Mucormycosis treatment is a debride treatment, which means that it has to be treated medically as well as surgically. The fungus has to be removed surgically so that the penetration of antifungal drugs is much better into these areas. Surgery is very important because the black fungus has to be completely scraped off and healthy tissue should be seen. Photo: AP

The Union Health Ministry has appealed to all the states and Union Territories to declare mucormycosis as a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Disease Act 1897. The Ministry has also advised all government and private health facilities, as well as medical colleges to follow guidelines issued by it and the ICMR on screening, diagnosis and management of mucormycosis. Telangana and Rajasthan have already declared it as an epidemic.

Cases of black fungus have been reported in various parts of the country including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Bihar.