Mucor is a fungus present in the environment. Mucormycosis, a fungal infection, is also known as black fungus, which is a misnomer. Black fungus technically refers to melanin-producing fungi and not mucormycosis. Mucormycosis is referred to as black fungus perhaps because it devitalises affected tissues, causing them to turn black. ‘’The fungus usually invades the blood vessels stopping blood flow to vital areas and causing them to necrose or rot, turning them black as a result,’’ said Dr Pradeep Hosamani, senior ENT consultant at Apollo Hospital in Bengaluru. Mucormycosis is not communicable, meaning it does not spread from one person to another, he added.
People with uncontrolled diabetes and a weakened immune system are at an increased risk for mucormycosis. "Having uncontrolled diabetes increases the risk of black fungus infection significantly. Historically, this infection was seen in patients with poorly controlled diabetes. As symptomatic COVID infections will need to be treated with steroids, and as steroids increase sugar levels, this particularly increases the risk of black fungus infection,’’ said Dr Santosh Sivaswamy, ENT consultant, Columbia Asia Hospital, Hebbal (A unit of Manipal Hospitals) in Bengaluru.
He observed that higher incidences of mucormycosis was more commonly seen in the coastal belts. "Hot and humid climate is one of the reasons to develop this infection." There are also theories that the use of oxygen, humidifiers and oxygen delivery masks may be contributing to the outburst, but they are not proven," said Dr Lakshmi Ananth, senior ENT consultant at Apollo in Bengaluru.
Common symptoms to look out for include inability to move the eyeball, inability to open the eye, swelling of the eye, bloody nasal discharge, swelling of face, numbness and loosening of teeth and altered consciousness, said Hosamani. Unexplainable headache even post recovery from coronavirus, pain in the teeth, numbness in the face, vision difficulties or loss of vision and nose blocks experienced more towards one side are also some of the early symptoms. "Mucormycosis is best diagnosed by performing a nasal endoscopy and sampling the nasal discharge for microscopy. An MRI scan of the brain and orbits is performed to look for the extent of disease.’’ said Ananth.
