They call it the “black fungus” and in India it is considered “a nightmare within the coronavirus pandemic”.
This week almost 9 were reported. 000 cases of mucormycosis , an infection caused by a fungus.
Some patients have only could be saved by removing an eye. And the mortality rate among those who are infected is 50% .
Thousands of cases have been registered among patients who had recovered from covid – 19 or that were in the process of recovery, hence it is associated with the coronavirus pandemic.
Doctors assure that there is a relationship with steroids that they are used to treat disease. And it is known that diabetics have a higher risk of suffering from mucormycosis.
These are some keys to understanding what mucomycosis infection is and why it has such devastating effects.
1. What is mucormycosis?
Mucormycosis, commonly called “black fungus”, is a very rare infection.
It is caused by exposure to the fungus mucor , which is part of the family Mucoraceae which is commonly found in soil, plants, manure, and fruits and vegetables in decomposition.
“It is omnipresent and is on the ground and in the air and even in the nose and mucus of healthy people ”, explains to the BBC Dr. Akshay Nair, an eye surgeon from Bombay, India.
Affects the sinuses, brain and lungs and can be life threatening in diabetic or severely immunosuppressed people, such as cancer patients or people with HIV / AIDS.
2. What causes the infection?
Doctors believe that mucormycosis may be caused by the use of steroids , some pharmacological compounds used for the treatment of seriously ill or critically ill patients due to covid – 19.
Steroids reduce inflammation in the lungs and help stop some of the damage that can occur when the body’s immune system ramps up to fight the coronavirus.
But they also reduce immunity and increase blood sugar levels , both in diabetic and non-diabetic patients with covid – 19.
Experts believe that this decrease in immunity could trigger cases of mucormycosis.
“Diabetes reduces the body’s immune defenses, the coronavirus aggravates it and then the steroids that help fight covid – 27 act as fuel for the fire ”, says Nair.
3. Why in India?
It is closely related to the previous question.
India is in the middle of a second very hard wave of coronavirus , although the daily number of cases is starting to drop. But the Indian health system was completely saturated for weeks, and in hospitals the supply of oxygen and medicines to cope with the pandemic was scarce.
Doctors resorted mainly to steroids to treat the disease.
The western state of Maharashtra is one of the most common cases of black fungus and is also one of the most affected by the second wave of covid – 19.
On the other hand, as we explained above, cases of black fungus have also been linked to levels blood sugar. India has the second highest rate of diabetes in the world.
4. What are the symptoms?
Patients suffering from fungal infection usually have symptoms of nasal congestion and bleeding.
Also swelling and pain in the eye, droopy eyelids, blurred vision and finally the loss of an eye. There may be black spots on the skin around the nose.
Doctors say that most his patients arrive too late to be treated , when they are already losing their vision. Doctors have to surgically remove the affected eye to prevent the infection from reaching the brain.
In some cases, patients have lost vision in both eyes. And in rare cases, doctors have to surgically remove the jaw bone to prevent the disease from spreading.
It can be treated with an antifungal intravenous injection that needs to be given every day for up to a maximum eight weeks. It is the only effective drug against the disease.
5. Is it contagious?
Mucormycosis is not contagious between people or animals. It only develops in patients with the favorable conditions in their body, such as diabetes or immunosuppression caused by other diseases.
However, since is spread by fungal spores that are present in the air or in the environment, it is almost impossible to avoid it.
A person healthy, or without immune system problems, you should not fear a contagion of this type.
“Bacteria and fungi are present in our body, but the immune system keeps under control , “explained K. Bhujang Shetty, director of Narayana Nethralaya Hospital in India.
” When the immune system is weakened due to cancer treatment, diabetes or the using steroids, these organisms take advantage and multiply, “Shetty explained to Reuters.
” The strain appears to be virulent, raising blood sugar levels to very high levels. And strangely the fungal infection is affecting many young people “, says Dr. Raghuraj Hegde, from the southern city of Bangalore.
6 . How widespread is the contagion in India?
A senior Indian government official, VK Paul, has stated that “there is not a major outbreak” of mucormycosis. However, an increasing number of cases has been reported throughout the country, reaching more than 8. 800 this week.
- Dozens more corpses appear in the Ganges river in India in the middle of the coronavirus crisis
“We are already seeing two or three cases per week here. It is a nightmare within a pandemic , ”says Dr. Renuka Bradoo, from Sion Hospital in Bombay.
Dr. Baxi treated some 800 patients diabetics with covid – 19 last year and none of them contracted the yeast infection.
In contrast, last month his youngest patient was a man of 27 years that he was not even diabetic. “We had to operate it during its second week of covid – 19 and remove the eye. It is quite devastating. ”
The Indian Council of Medical Research and the Union Ministry of Health have asked the population to maintain personal hygiene and diseases such as diabetes under control.
They have also urged them to wear shoes , long pants, long-sleeved shirts, and gloves while handling dirt, moss, or manure to avoid exposure to the fungus.
Now you can receive notifications from BBC Mundo. Download the new version of our app and activate them so as not to miss our best content.