COVID-19 and mucormycosis (Black Fungus): An epidemic within the pandemic

• Main Authors: Ramandeep Singh Gambhir, Amit Aggarwal, Arvind Bhardwaj, Avineet Kaur, Ramandeep Kaur Sohi, Sonia Mehta
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: National Institute of Public Health - National Institute of Hygiene 2021-09-01
• Series: Roczniki Panstwowego Zakladu Higieny
• Subjects: covid-19; sars-cov-2 pandemic; mucormycosis; india; diabetes; black fungus
• Online Access: http://wydawnictwa.pzh.gov.pl/roczniki_pzh/pobierz-artykul?id=1391

The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected India significantly with country reporting more than 400,000 cases in the month of May 2021 and health system almost collapsing. This was attributed to the new mutant strain also called as the ‘Delta Strain’ which led to high surge of cases across the country. As the country was stabilising over this situation, another imminent threat in the form of Covid Associated Mucormycosis (CAM) challenged the already burdened health system of India. Also called as ‘Black Fungus,’ cases of CAM began to rise rapidly in the last week of May 2021 with multiple states reporting steady rise in the number of cases. Based on the published literature, India contributed to approximately 71% of global cases of CAM from December 2019 to start of April 2021, with majority of the cases occurring during the second wave. The present paper focuses on the epidemic of CAM during the second wave in India highlighting the causes, symptoms and various treatment modalities that have been adopted to cure the disease. Also, spotlight has also been thrown on some other nations where cases of CAM have begun to emerge. Some key recommendations are also mentioned which can prove vital towards disease prevention.