Medics in India have reported that over 4,300 people have died of an epidemic of deadly black fungus which seems to be affecting Covid-19 patients. In the Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, over 1,700 people have been recorded to have died from the infection.
The infection, called mucormycosis, has thus far officially affected 45,374 people, meaning it has a mortality rate of around 10%.
The disease results in an infection, often black in appearance, that affects the eyes, nose and brain and appears normally two weeks after the initial infection of Covid-19.
It is believed that the fungus may be in some way related to steroid treatment given to Covid-19 patients in hospital. These steroids help dampen the overreaction the immune system may have to Covid-19 but, at the same time, they can push up blood sugar levels and lower immunity, thereby letting the black fungus infection take hold.
Dr Raghuraj Hegde, spoke to BBC news, saying:
"Typically, deaths in mucormycosis occur weeks to months after getting the disease. Our present systems are not good to capture that data."
The eye specialist went on to say that it is highly likely that many black fungus infections are not being reported due to many Indians not being able to seek medical treatment, either because they are too poor and living in rural areas far from proper medical facilities, or because hospitals are full.
He added that many patients who think they have beaten the infection have seen it return a short time later.
Indian doctor Dr Akshay Nair, also stated to the BBC their fears over recurring infections, saying:
"We are seeing patients who were treated aggressively for the disease and discharged from hospitals returning with a recurrent infection which is manifesting in wider spread of the disease in the eye or brain."
Why the black fungus is affecting patients in India and nowhere else in the world is as of yet unclear. However, it may be down to the fact that the microbes may live in that part of the world, coupled with the fact that in many areas of India sanitation levels are poor.
[h/t: BBC]
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