Preventive steps to avoid Mucormycosis or Black Fungus infections

Contents

• 1
• 2 What is the News?
• 3 About Mucormycosis:
• 4 Preventive steps to avoid Mucormycosis:

What is the News?

Doctors have advised several preventive steps to be taken by Covid-19 patients to prevent Mucormycosis.

About Mucormycosis:

• Mucormycosis or Black Fungus is a rare fungal infection. A group of molds called mucormycetes is the reason behind it, which is abundant in the environment. These are present in the air, water and moist surfaces in damp places.
• Non-Transmissible: Mucormycosis is not a communicable disease. Also, it does not spread from one person to another like Covid-19.
• Vulnerable Group:
  • This infection does not usually infect healthy persons. However, it can cause severe infection in an immunocompromised person.
  • Moreover, it is also infecting COVID-19 patients prescribed steroids to control the infections or those who have uncontrolled diabetes.
• Types of mucormycosis: Mucormycosis can be categorised depending on the organ of the human body it attacks:
  • Rhino orbital cerebral mucormycosis: It infects the nose, the orbit of the eye/eye socket, oral cavity. It can even spread to the brain.
  • Pulmonary mucormycosis: This fungal infection affects the lungs and causes fever, chest pain, cough and coughing of blood.
  • Gastrointestinal Mucormycosis: This fungus infection affects the gastrointestinal tract.
• Treatment: The infection is often treated with antifungal medicine, usually amphotericin B.

Preventive steps to avoid Mucormycosis:

• Firstly, patients, especially those in the high-risk category for mucormycosis should avoid visiting damp and dusty places post Covid-19 recovery.
• Secondly, it will take around four weeks for the effect of steroids administered to COVID-19 patients to wear off. So, it is important to keep oneself protected during this time.
• Thirdly, patients should wear a three-ply mask and gloves and fully cover their legs and arms.
• Fourthly, COVID-19 patients’ oxygen mask and cannula should be sterile to prevent mucormycosis.
• Fifthly, there should be a regular check on the water used in oxygenation for any possible contamination.
• Lastly, doctors and nurses should check for the symptoms in patients while treating patients with steroids or other immunosuppressive agents.

Source: The Hindu

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