After a spike in black fungus cases, several states such as Rajasthan, Telangana, Gujarat, Haryana, and Assam have declared it as an epidemic. In the meantime, a new fungus has emerged – white fungus. The new cases of white fungus have been found in Patna, Bihar. It is believed to be more fatal than black fungus.
Symptoms of White Fungus:
Similar to that of coronavirus: Attacks the lungs, thus can be detected by high-resolution CT-scan, spreads to lungs, kidneys, intestines, private parts, and nails
Watch out for these symptoms:
- Small, painless bump on the skin that can develop any time from 1 to 12 weeks after exposure to the fungus which eventually grows bigger
- For lung infection, symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, and fever
- If the infection is disseminated, it depends on the affected body part. Infections in joints can cause joint pain that may be confused with rheumatoid arthritis. Infections of the central nervous system can involve difficulty thinking, headache, and seizures.
White Fungus infection is more dangerous than black fungus infection because it affects lungs as well as other parts of the body incuding nails, skin, stomach, kidney, brain, private parts and mouth.
Just like Black Fungus, White Fungus is also more dangerous for those who have weak immunity. Diabetes patients and those who are taking steroids for a long period of time are more at risk of getting infected with White Fungus. It is also affecting those coronavirus patients who are on oxygen support. The white fungus is directly affecting the lungs of these patients.
For protection against the disease, CDC has recommended “wearing protective clothing such as gloves and long sleeves when touching plant matter that can cause minor cuts or scrapes.” The disease can be diagnosed by either taking a small tissue sample or biopsy of the infected area of the body and blood tests also sometimes help in discovering the infection. Treatment of White Fungus disease is mainly done through anti-fungal medicines and it is not life-threatening. However, this changes if person contracts severe disease and lungs are infected.
