Global prevalence of mucormycosis varies between 0.005 and 1.7 per million population, but its prevalence in India is nearly 80 times higher (0.14 per 1,000). “In other words, India has the highest cases of mucormycosis in the world, said Dr Misra. Considering India is considered the diabetes capital of the world, it is not surprising that it leads in mucormycosis cases as well.
India’s Covid-19 pandemic is about to get much more complicated.
A crushing second wave of Covid-19, when the country is persistently seeing around 350,000 new infections a day, has
led to a massive increase in cases that require strong medication. Now, the long-term effects of such drugs are leading to cases of a rare fungal infection, which can even prove fatal in some instances.
Mucormycosis, colloquially known as black fungus, is an infection from the mucormycetes group of fungi. It is abundantly found in natural environments, especially in soil. Though rare, this infection has been around for decades, but only impacts those with health conditions and significantly weakened immune systems because of the use of steroids.