The authorities in India are raising the alarm over a rise in a rare and potentially fatal fungal infection called mucormycosis among recovered but still vulnerable Covid-19 patients.
The condition is caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes that are found in the soil and the air. Spores can enter the bloodstream through a cut or abrasion, and thereby spread to the eyes, spleen, heart, and brain. They can also be inhaled via the nose, entering the mucous glands, sinuses, and lungs, generating a respiratory infection.
Mucormycosis often strikes the immunocompromised, including diabetics or those on medication to reduce an overactive immune response. It also appears to be affecting these vulnerable groups even harder after they have overcome Covid-19 infections.
An increasing number of Covid-19 patients across India are presenting with the potentially fatal fungal infection. In the state of Maharashtra, where Mumbai is located, more than 200 recovered Covid-19 patients have caught mucormycosis, and at least eight have subsequently died from the infection, according to local media.
The authorities in the state of Gujarat have ordered 5,000 doses of the powerful anti-fungal agent amphotericin B to cope with the rise in cases, and ordered hospitals to create special treatment wards for those who are infected.
Last week, India’s Health Ministry released an advisory warning that, if not treated, the disease might prove fatal. “We have heard that, in some areas, people who are Covid-infected or recovered suffer from mucormycosis,” Dr. V.K. Paul, the head of the country’s Covid-19 task force said, speaking to local media. However, he cautioned that there was “no big outbreak” yet, and that he and his team would continue to monitor the situation.
Medical experts on the ground suspect the rise in cases may be the result of a confluence of factors, including the use of steroids to help fight off Covid-19, and the less than sanitary domestic conditions to which Covid survivors return after hospitalization.
Dr. Akshay Nair, a Mumbai-based eye surgeon, told the BBC that he had treated dozens of recovered Covid-19 patients for the black fungus in April, 11 of whom needed to have an eye surgically removed to stop the infection from spreading to their brain.
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