Mucormycosis Strikes Covid Patients With Co-morbidities
By our team of in-house writers.
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First publised on 2020-12-18 07:15:42
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By our team of in-house writers.
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It is well known that
persons with co-morbidities have a tough time surviving a coronavirus
infection. Even if they survive, their recovery process is long and riddled
with complications. Now, a new infection has been discovered that is making
life hell, even killing, coronavirus survivors with co- morbidities.
Five such patients
suffered from mucormycosis, a rare fungal infection. Two of them died while
another two survived but lost their vision.
Mucormycosis is a serious infection caused by a group of molds called
mucormycetes. They mainly affect people with low immunity or those who have
other health problems.
In the cases reported
in Ahmedabad, Dr. Parth Rana, a retina and ocular trauma surgeon, said that all
5 had a history of uncontrolled diabetes and were on strong drugs, including
steroids, which had lowered their immunity. According to Dr. Rana, that was the
main reason why they got infected and the infection spread so rapidly.
Although experts had
earlier flagged the concern of other fungal infections in coronavirus patients,
Dr. Atul Patel, a leading infectious disease specialist, who was part of a
national study on mucormycosis, says that 19 cases of the infection have been
reported in Covid-19 recovered patients in the past three months which is 4.5 times
higher than normal.
Since mucormycosis is
a serious, life-threatening infection, coronavirus patients, especially those
with comorbiditie,s must take extra care to prevent it. The infection usually
attacks the paranasal sinus and sometimes affects the eyes, jaws and lungs. So
patients should keep their sugar in control and consult an ENT or eye
specialist immediately if they have problems.
