A surge in rare cases of a potentially lethal ‘black fungus’ infection in Covid patients has been reported in virus-ravaged India.
Officials in the country said that doctors treating patients with coronavirus as well as diabetics and immuno-compromised people should be made aware of the symptoms.
The disease, which can lead to blackening or discolouration over the nose, blurred or double vision, chest pain, breathing difficulties and coughing blood, is strongly linked to diabetes.
And diabetes can in turn be exacerbated by steroids such as dexamethasone, used to treat severe Covid.
Symptoms of mucormycosis or “black fungus” are said to include sinus pain or nasal blockage on one side of the face, one-sided headache, swelling or numbness, toothache and loosening of teeth.
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P Suresh, head of ophthalmology at Fortis Hospital in Mulund, Mumbai, said his hospital had treated at least 10 patients in the past two weeks, roughly twice as many as in the entire year before the pandemic.
All had been infected with Covid and most were diabetic or had received immunosuppressant drugs.
Some had died, and some had lost their eyesight, he said.
Other doctors spoke of a similar surge in cases.
“Previously if I saw one patient a year, I now see about one a week,” said Nishant Kumar, a consultant ophthalmologist at Hinduja hospital in Mumbai, noting the potential for contamination of oxygen pipes and humidifiers in hospitals.
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David Denning, a professor at Manchester University and an expert at the Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections charity, said: “There have been cases reported in several other countries – including the UK, U.S., France, Austria, Brazil and Mexico, but the volume is much bigger in India.
“And one of the reasons is lots and lots of diabetes, and lots of poorly controlled diabetes.”
India has not published national data on mucormycosis but said there is no major outbreak.
Aparna Mukherjee, a scientist at the Indian Council of Medical Research, said: “It’s not something to panic about, but you have to be aware of when to seek consultation.”
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Arunaloke Chakrabarti, head of the Center of Advanced Research in Medical Mycology in Chandigarh, said that even before Covid, mucormycosis was more common in India than in most countries, “partly because of the millions who have diabetes”.
He said serious cases might require specific antifungal therapy and several operations.
The fresh concerns come as India is coming under pressure to go into a complete lockdown as the Covid variant there wreaks havoc.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing calls for draconian restrictions as India continues to suffer 300-400,000 cases each day as well as 3,000-4,000 deaths.
Hospitals are running out of oxygen and beds while morgues and crematoria are full.
Public Health England last week declared the Indian variant a “variant of concern” on the back of its analysis.