The Chair of Infectious Diseases of the University of the Republic of Uruguay has confirmed the first case of mucormicosis in the American continent. This rare and aggressive disease, known as’fungus negro‘, is affecting many convalescent of coronavirus in India, where it is already classified as an epidemic.
According to El País, the 50-year-old Uruguayan patient had previous comorbidities (diabetes) and has presented necrosis on the mucous area ten days after your COVID-19 infection.
“On Uruguay there have always been cases, but with respect to COVID-19 I have not seen others. It does not mean that there are not, but we had not heard of similar cases, “he told the newspaper El Observador Zaida Arteta, associate professor of the chair.
According to the expert in Mycology, “mechanical ventilation for a long time (for patients with coronavirus), inflammation of the respiratory tree or systemic inflammation can generate fertile ground” for “fungus spores”, which may be present in food , on the ground or on a wall.
“They can only cause disease when there is a previous injury, such as a large burn on the skin,” immunosuppressed people, who do not have sufficient defenses, or people who have had a traumatic injury, he explained.
For its part, the research, teaching and assistance group in Medical Mycology University of the Republic has raised other favorable factors for mucormicosis in COVID-19: “Observed endothelitis, with pulmonary endothelial injury” and “hyperglycemia associated with the use of CCG in DM and the involvement of the pancreatic islets by SARS-CoV-2”.
Last Tuesday, May 25, the Chair of Infectious Diseases published the “update of fundamental aspects for the treatment of COVID-19 in Uruguay”, where it mentions the mucormicosis, its causes and how to treat it in case it appears in a patient.
‘Black fungus’ epidemic in India
At least 19 Indian regions, the last of them Jammu and Kashmir, have elevated mucormycosis to epidemic status, a lethal infection that has been detected in a growing number of cases in COVID-19 patients.
The health authorities of the Asian nation raised the alarm a couple of weeks ago, when a significant increase in cases was detected among coronavirus patients with very specific pathologies such as diabetes.
The increasing number of infections by the ‘black fungus’ has added to the concern over the pandemic in India.
With information from EFE.
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