50% black fungus patients visiting PGI found Covid +ve

Naina Mishra

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 4

Over 50 per cent patients visiting the PGI with mucormycosis symptoms were also diagnosed with Covid-19 on the same day.

“A lot of people are presenting to our hospital with symptoms of mucormycosis (commonly known as black fungus) but they are found Covid positive as well on the same day,” said Dr Gyan Ranjan Nayak from the Department of ENT, PGI.

“The association may be partly explained by the fact that many of them were borderline diabetic or pre-diabetic and their blood sugar levels shot up when they contracted Covid-19. The patients can be asymptomatic for Covid but can develop mucormycosis symptoms,” said Dr Nayak.

Prof Arunaloke Chakrabarti, Head of Department, Medical Microbiology, PGI, said, “A lot of people in our country take medicines without consulting doctors. There is hardly any patient of mucormycosis in the PGI who does not have hyper glycemia.”

“Almost 80 per cent mucormycosis patients were also taking steroids. When they came to the PGI, they were found infected with the fungal infection as well as the Covid,” said Prof Chakrabarti.

The PGI has so far seen 189 patients of mucormycosis, of which 60 per cent (115) are Covid positive.

After analysing the data related to the testing of these 115 patients, it was found that 50 per cent were diagnosed with both diseases on the same day, while 29 per cent were diagnosed with fungal infection within five days of being tested positive for the Covid. Around 77 per cent patients (136 out of 189) were found diabetic as well. A majority of patients diagnosed with fungal infection are in the age group of 51 to 60 years, followed by those above 61 years of age. At least 17 patients have succumbed to mucormycosis. “Mucormycosis is an aggressive fungal infection that occurs in people whose immune system doesn’t function well (immune-compromised), including people with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus,” said Prof Chakrabarti. “Mucor is in our environment, but it doesn’t enter our body because of immunity. In diabetes, innate immunity gets compromised,” he added. Ruling out the role of oxygen therapy in inducing fungal infection, Prof Chakrabarti said, “Oxygen therapy does not play any role in contributing to the growth of the fungal infection. Patients who are on oxygen, means they have severe infection, and such patients are at high risk of mucormycosis.”