India has been experiencing a terrible wave of Covid-19 for a few weeks. Now the country of 1.3 billion people faces a new scourge. More than 10,000 cases of mucormycosis have been reported in India, the health authorities have just classified this infection as a new epidemic.
Specialized centers dedicated to this fungus
The country’s doctors are sounding the alarm again! The country’s health authorities have documented thousands of cases of mucormycosis, an infection that affects the eyes and the brain. Its mortality rate is estimated at 50%. In more serious cases, surgery may be necessary to prevent the infection from reaching the brain. Patients with affected eyes may also lose their sight. The government has decided to create specialized centers in the city of New Delhi to prevent the spread of the fungus. According to The Dispatch, Maharashtra state alone has reported over 2,000 cases, and Gujarat, home of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, around 1,200. Other states like Rajkot (400 cases) have also reported new cases.
What are the symptoms of mucormycosis?
Concretely, even if the mortality rate is very high, this disease is rare. Also worrying, since it affects people cured of Covid-19 but they suffer from diabetes. Asked by the BBC, Dr Akshay Nair, ophthalmic surgeon in Mumbai, points to treatments for the coronavirus. These feed a reaction within our body, in particular steroids, which help to slow down inflammation in the lungs, they also paralyze the immune system. “Diabetes lowers the body’s immune defenses, the coronavirus exacerbates them, then the steroids that help fight Covid-19 act as fuel for the fire,” explains Dr Nair.
“The current Indian situation is particularly favorable for the development of mucormycosis“, says Fanny Lanternier, researcher at the National Reference Center for Invasive Mycoses and Antifungals to the media JDD. “Mucormycosis is a disease caused by microscopic fungi belonging to the order Mucorales. These filamentous fungi, so called because they form filaments when they develop, live in the so-called “telluric” environment., in other words in soils, dust “, she says. “When the infection is acquired from the air, it initially affects the sinuses of the face, and the first symptoms seen are pain in the face and eye. Nose bleeds can also occur. The eye may turn red, and there may be proptosis (the eye becomes protruding). The infection can progress to the brain, and in the most advanced stages there is skin necrosis on the face ”, adds researcher Fanny Lanternier.
Other doctors in India are attacking hygienic conditions. Some hospitals have allowed the fungus to become gangrenous and infect Covid-19 patients when placed on oxygen.
