1.)
Black fungus or Mucormycosis:
What is Mucormycosis or
black fungus?
Mucormycosis is a fungal infection triggered by coronavirus. Black
fungus or Mucormycosis has been a cause of disease and death of patients in
transplants, ICUs and immunodeficient patients for since long.
What causes Mucormycosis?
People catch Mucormycosis by coming in contact with the fungal spores in
the environment. It can also develop on the skin after the fungus enters the
skin through a cut, scrape, burn, or other types of skin trauma.
The disease is being detected among patients who are recovering or have
recovered from COVID-19
What are the Symptoms?
According to
an advisory issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research, the following
conditions in COVID-19 patients increase the risk of Mucormycosis infection:
1)
Uncontrolled diabetes
2) Weakening
of immune system due to use of steroids
3) Prolonged
ICU/hospital stay
4)
Co-morbidities / post organ transplant / cancer
5)
Voriconazole therapy (used to treat serious fungal infections)
How to prevent Mucormycosis?
1) Use masks if you are visiting dusty construction
sites
2) Wear shoes, long
trousers, long sleeve shirts and gloves while handling soil (gardening), moss
or manure
3) Maintain personal hygiene,
including thorough scrub bath
4) The disease can be
managed by controlling diabetes, discontinuing immunomodulation drugs, reducing
steroids and extensive surgical debridement- to remove all necrotic materials,
according to the advisory.
Do's
·
Control
·
Monitor blood glucose level post-COVID-19 discharge
and also in diabetics
·
Use steroid judiciously
·
Use clean, sterile water for humidifiers during
oxygen therapy
·
Use antibiotics/antifungals judiciously
Don'ts
·
Do not miss warning signs and symptoms
·
Do not consider all the cases with blocked nose as
cases of bacterial sinusitis, particularly in the context of immunosuppression
and/or COVID-19 patients on immunomodulatory
·
Do not hesitate to seek aggressive investigations,
as appropriate (KOH staining & microscopy, culture, MALDITOF), for
detecting fungal ethology
· Do not lose crucial time to initiate treatment for Mucormycosis
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