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After corona, the population of hard-hit India is increasingly struggling with a deadly black fungal infection. The infection strikes corona patients with weakened immune systems and affects the brain.
While India is still struggling to bring its corona numbers down, the country now has to fight another enemy as well. The black fungal infection mucormycosis is normally fairly rare, but the pandemic creates the perfect conditions for the infection to emerge. 300 cases have recently been reported in the Indian state of Gujarat. Hospitals are setting up special departments to provide appropriate care for black fungal patients.
Mucormycosis is caused by an ordinary group of fungi that live in the soil and on plants. The black fungus also occurs in us. When someone inhales the spores of the fungus, they end up in your sinus cavities. The body of people with a well-functioning immune system can eradicate the fungus immediately, but a weakened immune system allows the fungus to spread to the brain. Mucormycosis really causes problems there: the chance of dying from it is as much as 50%.
In half who do survive, doctors often have to surgically remove the infected parts of the jawbone, nose, and eyes. The symptoms are also no laughing matter: (head) pain, fever, bloody vomit, bloody or black mucus, painful and blurred vision. The intravenous administration of medication can slow down the infection, but it is often far too expensive for the average Indian.
Weakened corona patients
The fact that the fungal infection thrives in people with weakened immune systems is of course the reason why it is so prevalent in the countless Indian corona patients. According to Professor Peter Collignon of the World Health Organization (WHO), the immune systems of corona patients are mainly weakened by the steroids they receive. “We now give a lot of high doses of steroids to people with Covid-19 when they end up in intensive care. The steroids help treat inflammation, but unfortunately they also suppress your immune system. That’s why we don’t want to over-administer steroids, ”Collignon told The Guardian.
People who have a weakened immune system for other reasons, such as diabetics or leukemia patients, are also susceptible to the deadly black fungus. In hospitals, the fungus can spread through bedding, ventilation systems or patches.
To contain the spread of mucormycosis, the Indian Health Ministry has recommended wearing shoes, long pants and a t-shirt and gloves when handling soil, moss or manure. The use of steroids should also be kept as limited as possible.
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