Black Fungus? Awareness about the deadly infection.
Black fungus is also known as MUCORMYCOSIS.
In past few days, there has been an increase in the detection of a rare and new fungal infection called as “BLACK FUNGUS” aka “MUCORMYCOSIS” in the covid-19 patients.
Where did this virus seen?
Mostly, this virus appears in the skin and affects the lungs and the brain.
Which place this virus got detected?
This infection is reported from the cities like Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat and others.
As the infection spreads across the country, we might have few questions:
1.How real is the danger?
2.Is it linked to Covid?
3.How much of it is hype?
4.What’s the truth?
5.What are the symptoms?
6.What are some myths about black fungus?
7.What is the cost of treatment?
8.What should be done to prevent black fungus?
⭐What are the symptoms and precautions!
So, the Early recognition of symptoms i.e., eye swelling, jaw or teeth pain, bloody discharge from nose, severe headache or visual changes like double vision or sudden blindness can aid in early diagnosis and prompt treatment.
Black fungus is known to spread through blood vessels and can spread to lungs, skin and brain amazingly fast if it is not diagnosed early.
⭐How BLACK FUNGUS can be confirmed?🧐
Examination by ENT Specialist, eye specialist, and imaging by MRI Confirms the diagnosis.
⭐What are the preventions of BLACK FUNGUS?
Preventive strategies should be incorporated hand in hand with treatment of covid. Good diabetes care and pre-diabetes care are critical to avoid contracting the infection.
Vaccination to reduce severity of covid obviates need for steroids. A good glycaemic control during covid-19 infection, like limiting the steroids to only hypoxic patients and that too with strict sugar monitoring, is important.
⭐What is the COST of TREATMENT ?💲
The cost of treating BLACK FUNGUS patients is huge. It requires multiple surgeries which can have high morbidity. Some operations like removal of eye, which can render patients blind. If incase fungus has invaded the brain, then it has an 80% chance of death. Patients often need precious ICU resources and ventilator beds post surgically.
The cost of daily anti-fungal treatment and antibiotics can range from INR 20,000–40,000 per day and this treatment would continue in hospital for at least 2–3 weeks after surgery.
⭐Myths about mucormycosis
1. Mucormycosis is not black fungus.
2.Unlike covid-19, it is not contagious and does not spread from one person to another.
3.All covid patients are not susceptible to it and it is extremely uncommon in covid patients who did not receive steroids or had their diabetes under perfect control.
⭐Why this BLACK FUNGUS emerged now? What is its relation with COVID-19?
Woah! Hold on.. don’t stressed out.
Uncontrolled diabetes and immunosuppression are the 2 commonest scenarios where patients get this infection.
Vaccination to reduce severity of covid obviates need for steroids. A good glycaemic control during Covid-19 infection, limiting the steroids to only hypoxic patients and that too with strict sugar monitoring, is important. In the recovery phase of Covid, active surveillance of symptoms and examination by ENT specialist can go a long way in preventing or doing early treatment of mucormycosis.
Take care! We all can get through this.
