Covid-triggered black fungus infection is back: warns Gangaram hospital

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 6

Gangaram hospital on Thursday said it was again seeing a rise in COVID-19 triggered Mucormycosis cases – a kind of dangerous fungal infection. 

Manish Munjal, senior ENT surgeon at the facility said, “We are seeing a rise again in this dangerous fungal infection triggered by Covid 19. In the last two days we have admitted six cases of Mucormycosis. Last year this deadly infection caused a high mortality with many patients suffering from loss of eye sight and removal of nose and jaw bone.”

Chairman of ENT department at Gangaram, Ajay Swaroop said the infection is commonly seen in COVID-19 recovered patients with comorbidities such as diabetes or kidney, heart failure or cancer.

“Use of steroids in the treatment of Covid infection plus the fact that many Covid patients have diabetes as co morbidity could be one of the reasons for this rise in black fungus infection again. Covid patients with weak immunity are more prone to this deadly infection,” he said.

Doctors said early clinical suspicion on symptoms such as nose obstruction, swelling in the eyes or cheeks and black crusts in the nose should immediately prompt a biopsy and start of antifungal therapy as early as possible.