Doctors in India are reporting that patients that are suffering from Covid-19 or have recently recovered from Covid-19 are being struck down with a bizarre 'black fungus' known as mucormycosis.
Mucormycosis is an extremely rare infection and doctors typically only see one or two cases every couple of years, but since the pandemic swept through India, the numbers of patients with the highly dangerous infection have been increasing rapidly. As many as 50% with a mucormycosis infection die from it.
The infection is caused by exposure to a 'mucor mould' which is found in plants and in the soil. This is even commonly found in the ears and noses of healthy people, where it almost never causes problems.
Most commonly, the infection is seen as a health threat to people with diabetes, or suffering form HIV/AIDS.
It is believed that due to the fact that Covid-19 lowers an individual's immunity that this may cause the infection to become out of control and begin attacking the body.
Dr. Akshay Nair, a Mumbai-based eye surgeon, said:
"Diabetes lowers the body's immune defences, coronavirus exacerbates it, and then steroids which help fight Covid-19 act like fuel to the fire."
The doctor himself says he has already treated 40 people infected with the mould. Doctors in other cities are also reporting the same thing.
Many of the patients who survive the infection have to have noses, eyes and limbs removed to stop the infection taking over and killing the rest of the body, one patient even had to have their jaw-bone removed. The infection is particularly deadly if it reaches a patient's brain or other major organs.
If caught early enough, the infection can sometimes be treated with a regime of anti-fungal injections, so doctors are encouraging anyone with symptoms to come forward as quickly as possible.
Initial symptoms include bleeding from the nose and ear, loss of sight or blurred vision, and drooping eyelids.
The recent wave of Covid-19 has hit India extremely hard and the country has now recorded the highest number of daily cases for any country on the planet. Over 400,000 new infections are being reported each day, though the real number is thought to be much higher. Over 240,000 Indians have also officially died from the disease.
[h/t: BBC]
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