Mucormycosis is Becoming the Latest Health Threat

MUCORMYCOSIS is the latest health threat reported by medical experts. In recent months the doctors in India have detected this threat that could be even worse than coronavirus and whose mortality rate rises to 90% if treatment is not found in the short term.  Mucormycosis is a strange and extremely dangerous fungal infection that has already become an outbreak among thousands of people and is related as a new sequel to Covid-19 when it occurs in patients in the process of recovery.

Dr Navin Patel, an Indian surgeon, has stated in the Times of India that “a tsunami of mucormycosis is occurring that threatens to kill patients who were spared from COVID.” Some experts attribute the increase in cases to also a greater vulnerability of patients due to the situation of saturated hospitals and worse control of diseases such as diabetes, but also to greater use of steroids to treat hospitalized patients. Therefore, Navin Patel points out: “It is necessary to rationalize the rampant use of steroids during the coronavirus pandemic.”

What is Mucormycosis?

Mucormycosis is a fungal infection, it is not very common and is caused by exposure to mucor mould, which is in plants, manure, soil and decomposing fruits. “It is found in the ground and in the air, and even in the nose and mucous membranes of healthy people” according to Dr Akshay Nair, an eye surgeon from Bombay, as reported by the BBC. It mainly affects the paranasal sinuses, the brain and the lungs, and can pose a great risk for those who are diabetic or immunosuppressed, such as cancer or HIV/AIDS patients.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms of the disease include, headaches, fever, pain under the eyes, nasal or sinus congestion and partial loss of vision stand out. Symptoms usually appear between 12 and 18 days after the patient recovers from coronavirus and that the infection may occur after a cut wound, burn or another type of injury to the skin, where the fungus can gain entry. The most notable characteristics of mucormycosis are that it mainly affects the sinuses or lungs once the spores of this black fungus suspended in humid environments are inhaled.