Mucormycosis (black fungus)

What exactly is mucormycosis? who had it? and what are its symptoms? And what is the solution? Let's learn this in simple language.

Mucormycosis means:-

Mucor (black fungus) damages organs such as the eyes, sinuses, ears, and brain. Mucormycosis, caused by the black fungus, has become more common during the Corona period.

Mucor (black fungus) accumulates in humid places i.e. moist soil, plants, bio-fertilizers, perishable fruits, and vegetables.

Symptoms of mucormycosis

• Bleeding from the nose
• Acute headache (brain infection)
• The appearance of two images (eye infection)

The symptoms of mucormycosis depend on where in the body the fungus is growing. Contact your healthcare provider if you have symptoms that you think are related to mucormycosis.

fungus is a fungal infection. It takes about 8 days to swim from the nose to other organs. Therefore, if treatment is started only when the initial symptoms appear, the disease of mucosal mycosis can be cured immediately. If the infection spreads to the brain, the patient has a 50% chance of getting it Die. If the eye is injured, the eye may also be lost. Care is especially needed in patients with diabetes and hypertension.

Symptoms of rhinocerebral (sinus and brain) mucormycosis include:

• One-sided facial swelling
• Headache
• Nasal or sinus congestion
• Black lesions on the nasal bridge or upper inside of the mouth that quickly become more severe
• Fever

Symptoms of pulmonary (lung) mucormycosis include:

• Fever
• Cough
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Cutaneous (skin) mucormycosis can look like blisters or ulcers, and the infected area may turn black. Other symptoms include pain, warmth, excessive redness, or swelling around a wound.

Symptoms of gastrointestinal mucormycosis include:

• Abdominal pain
• Nausea and vomiting
• Gastrointestinal bleeding
• Disseminated mucormycosis typically occurs in people who are already sick from other medical conditions, so it can be difficult to know which symptoms are related to mucormycosis.

What are the risk factors for mucormycosis?

• A risk factor for mucormycosis includes any debilitating disease process, especially diseases that can yield compromised blood flow to the tissue.
• The classic example is the patient with uncontrolled diabetes and foot ulcers where dirt or debris can easily reach compromised tissue.
• Patients with burns, malignancies, immunocompromised patients, patients with splenectomy, and people with wounds (usually severe) contaminated with soil or environmental water are at higher risk of getting mucormycosis.
• Consequently, people injured in environmental disasters are, as a group, at high risk for this infection.

Types of mucormycosis:-

• Rhinocerebral (sinus and brain) mucormycosis is an infection in the sinuses that can spread to the brain. This form of mucormycosis is most common in people with uncontrolled diabetes and in people who have had a kidney transplant. 7-8
• Pulmonary (lung) mucormycosis is the most common type of mucormycosis in people with cancer and in people who have had an organ transplant or a stem cell transplant.
• Gastrointestinal mucormycosis is more common among young children than adults, especially premature and low birth weight infants less than 1 month of age, who have had antibiotics, surgery, or medications that lower the body’s ability to fight germs and sickness. 9-10
• Cutaneous (skin) mucormycosis occurs after the fungi enter the body through a break in the skin (for example, after surgery, a burn, or another type of skin trauma). This is the most common form of mucormycosis among people who do not have weakened immune systems.
• Disseminated mucormycosis occurs when the infection spreads through the bloodstream to affect another part of the body. The infection most commonly affects the brain but also can affect other organs such as the spleen, heart, and skin.

How is mucormycosis treated / Medicines?

Mucormycosis is a serious infection and needs to be treated with prescription antifungal medicine, usually amphotericin B, posaconazole, or isavuconazole. These medicines are given through a vein (amphotericin B, posaconazole, isavuconazole) or by mouth (posaconazole, isavuconazole). Other medicines, including fluconazole, voriconazole, and echinocandins, do not work against fungi that cause mucormycosis. Often, mucormycosis requires surgery to cut away the infected tissue.

Simple remedies for mucormycosis

• Corona patients should replace toothbrushes used during corona. And use mouthwash for some time.
• Use nasal drops on the doctor's advice.
• Mask should be changed after at least three days of matches, if using a cloth mask, wash it daily as sweat masks carry the risk of fungal infections.

Mucormycosis and corona

• People with very low immunity and those with high blood pressure and uncontrolled diabetes are more likely to develop mucosal mycosis.
• In the case of the corona, the weakened immune system of corona patients during treatment and the steroids given to corona patients and other drugs given to corona sufferers to reduce the number of viruses in the body are the main causes of this disease.