The increasing number of mucormycosis cases among patients recovering from COVID-19 is being detected in some states.
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The Indian Council of Medical Research has issued an advisory after Dr. VK Paul, member NITI Aayog mentioned about the existence of the rare, fungal infection. However, Dr Paul said that it is very uncommon among patients who do not have diabetes. He asked the people to control their sugar levels to prevent this disease.
He said that the cases are being studied, assuring that it is not a big outbreak.
Mucormycosis, as this fungal infection is called, is a serious but rare fungal infection caused by a group of fungi called mucormycetes.
They are present in the air as well as in contaminated surfaces and enter the body through the nasal cavities.
Hospitals in Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Bangalore that have been reporting the presence of this fungal disease since December have now raised red flags suggesting that Mucormycosis cannot be ignored as a post-COVID complication. While the Ministry is now closely monitoring the trajectory of this disease, there have been reports of deaths related to the case.
Some reports, circulating for months, have also mentioned the loss of eyesight after recovering from COVID as a result of the fungal infection.
BOOM spoke to Dr. Manish Munjal, ENT specialist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and Dr. Hetal Marfatia, Head of Department, ENT, KEM Hospital, Mumbai to understand the severity of the disease.
"COVID-19 patients are complaining about loss of vision and numbness in the nose after recovering. We have even lost a few patients post-recovery to the black fungus," Dr. Marfatia said.
While Sir Ganga Ram Hospital had reported four early deaths way back in December, Dr. Munjal said that the number of patients complaining about symptoms of mucormycosis has risen in the past few months.
"Once in the body, the fungi moves through the nasal cavity and causes necrosis-instant cell death if not checked. It moves through the nose to the eyes, and is most fatal if it reaches the brain," Dr. Munjal explained. A culture is collected from the people exhibiting symptoms and a potassium hydroxide stain is applied to the culture to test for positivity.
The fungal infection is usually diagnosed by numbness in the nose. The other symptoms of mucormycosis are eye swelling, one side swelling of the face, nasal or sinus congestion, excretion of black mucus. Both the doctors emphasised that the symptoms manifest faster in people living with diabetes.
"Patients recovering should be more vigilant about any symptoms and should visit a physician immediately for tests," said Dr. Munjal. ■