India has experienced a disturbing outbreak of a fungal infection caused by coronavirus, which has a mortality rate of almost 50%, and can lead to blindness and removal of the nose and jaw, according to local reports.
The Gujarat Department of Health has published an advice on the disease, called mucormycosis, which has been reported among COVID-19 patients in Ahmedabad and Rajkot, the Indian Express reported.
“Mucormycosis is a type of fungal disease that infects those with compromised immune systems and other existing diseases, it is a serious infection with a mortality rate of about 50 percent,” the advisor said.
Doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, a major private facility in Delhi that treats people from across Southeast Asia, have reported more than a dozen cases of the fungus, according to the media.
Black fungal mucormycosis – formerly called zygomycosis – is a serious but rare infection caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes, which exist in the environment.
The disease mainly affects people who have health problems or who are taking medications that decrease the body’s ability to prevent germs.
“The frequency with which we witness the onset of COVID-induced mucormycosis with high morbidity and mortality is alarming,” Dr. Manish Munjal, a senior hospital otolaryngologist, told the Indian Express.
“Early clinical suspicion of symptoms such as nasal obstruction, swelling in the eyes or cheeks and black dry crusts on the nose should immediately trigger a biopsy and start antifungal therapy as soon as possible,” he added.
According to the report, symptoms include pain, facial numbness, nasal obstruction and swelling of the eyes. If the infection reaches the lungs, symptoms may include fever, cough, chest pain, and difficulty breathing.
Cutaneous mucormycosis may look like blisters or ulcers and the infected area may turn black. Gastrointestinal mucormycosis may be indicated for abdominal pain, vomiting, and bleeding.
In one case, a 32-year-old man who recovered from COVID-19 developed a nasal blockage and inflammation of the eyes two days later. The left side of his face fell completely asleep and he was rushed to the hospital.
“His tests revealed the presence of strongly elevated sugar levels and infection, but even more deadly, the presence of a rare killer fungus called Mucor, which was shown from his nasal remains,” Munjal said.
“An MRI revealed that the infection had already destroyed a significant portion of the left lateral sinuses, eye, upper jaw bone and muscles, and had even passed into the brain,” he added.
Surgeons removed the infected tissue from the patient, who received life-saving antifungal drugs and critical care for more than two weeks, according to the Indian Express.
“Orbital involvement (the bony cavity that contains the eyeball) is a serious development in the course of this disease and not only points to the possibility of permanent loss of vision, but also of life, as the ‘Brain damage is the leading cause of death in mucormycosis,’ ‘Dr. Shaloo Bageja, the hospital’s senior eye surgeon, told the dam.