As concern grows over the increasing number of mucormycosis cases, doctors have reported cases of another invasive fungal infection — aspergillosis — among Covid-positive patients as well as those who have recovered from the virus. Doctors attribute it to unregulated usage of steroids among patients infected with the novel coronavirus in the second wave.
Mucormycosis is a serious, but rare fungal infection caused by a group of mould called mucormycetes. Similarly, aspergillosis is an infection caused by aspergillus, a common mould (a type of fungus) that lives indoors and outdoors. Doctors said aspergillosis that “mimics mucormycosis” spreads slowly, but also causes blindness, organ dysfunction, loss of body tissue and can reach the lungs of the patients. Healthy people breathe in aspergillus spores every day without getting sick due to high immunity. Taking this as a cue, currently many hospitals are routinely performing a nasal endoscopy for all in-house post Covid-19 patients with low immunity for early diagnosis of invasive fungal infections.
Vadodara, which has 262 patients undergoing treatment for mucormycosis in two government hospitals — SSG and Gotri medical college — now has at least eight patients of aspergillosis in SSG, admitted over the past week. SSG also has 13 patients of Candida auris, an invasive, multi-drug-resistant yeast infection that is being found in Covid-19 patients.
Mucormycosis commonly affects the nose and para-nasal sinuses and can very quickly spread to the eye and brain. Symptoms are nonspecific and include a blocked nose, bloody or foul smelling discharge from the nose, cheek swelling or pain, swelling of eyes, double vision, loose teeth and pain in the teeth. Invasive aspergillosis most commonly affects the lungs and causes cough with expectoration, blood in the sputum, fever and breathlessness. Involvement of the nose and sinuses results in symptoms similar to mucormycosis.
