What is ‘black fungus’ infection found in India’s COVID patients?
Indian doctors record a huge spurt in cases of mucormycosis, an aggressive, hard-to-treat fungal infection, among COVID-19 patients.
A rare and deadly fungal infection, called mucormycosis or Black Fungus, is infecting patients of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in India. On May 9, 2021 the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Union health ministry issued advisory for screening, diagnosis and management of Black Fungus.
Mucormycosis is an invasive infection caused by a class of molds called mucormycetes. These fungi are ubiquitous, naturally occurring in our environment, most commonly in soil. Humans get the infection by inhaling the fungal spores floating around in the air and in dust. These spores get lodged in the nasal passages and sinuses and cause disease at that site.
But not everyone exposed to the spores will get the infection. “For most part, if you have a normal immune system, it’s an asymptomatic, silent encounter,” says Tobias Hohl, chief of infectious disease service at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. But developing the invasive disease depends on a person’s health condition.
People with compromised immune systems, for example, those with blood cancer undergoing chemotherapy or bone-marrow transplant patients who can’t form neutrophils—a type of white blood cell that defends against infections—in the initial weeks, may fall victim to mucormycosis.
Public health experts are blaming the indiscriminate use of steroids to treat COVID-19 as the likely cause. Steroids reduce inflammation in the lungs. But overuse of these drugs in COVID-19 patients can result in lowered immunity and raised blood sugar levels. These conditions leave some patients, particularly those with uncontrolled diabetes, susceptible to such infections.
As India—the diabetes capital of the world—continues to battle a devastating second wave of COVID-19, ear, nose and throat physicians are expecting to see more mucormycosis cases come their way in the next few weeks.
In such vulnerable patients, the spores germinate to form long tubular filaments that can grow into the sinuses, into the bone, and the blood stream. The symptoms of mucormycosis and progression of the infection can vary from person to person; they include a throbbing headache, fever, facial and nasal pain, blackish nasal discharge, loss of vision, toothache, loosening of teeth, swelling in the upper jaw, and sometimes face paralysis.
“This is a horrific infection, and can be disfiguring,” Hohl says. “Unless treated, the infection can cross into the central nervous system, and that’s more dangerous.” The chances of dying exceeds 50 percent if the infection reaches the brain.
Early diagnosis can be lifesaving. But the infections can be extremely challenging to treat, even at an early stage.