Experts have been warning against the overuse of antibiotics for many years in fear that they could spawn dangerous superbugs, or drug-resistant bacteria. But more recently, fungi have begun to evolve defenses against medicines used to treat them as well.
Candida auris, for one, is known to sweep hospitals and nursing homes, infecting the most vulnerable patients and resisting most antifungal drugs. Infectious disease experts braced themselves for the dangerous fungus before it reached the US in 2016, as they had seen it wreak havoc in other countries, Maryn McKenna wrote for Scientific American.
Globally, more than 300 million people are infected with fungal diseases each year and 25 million are at high risk of dying or losing their sight more than annual deaths from malaria or tuberculosis, according to estimates by the Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections.
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Doctors in India are reporting cases of mucormycosis or black fungus, a serious but rare fungal infection, in some of the country’s coronavirus patients. The infection is caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes which live throughout the environment and typically do not agitate otherwise healthy people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
However, in those who have health problems, or take medications that lower the body’s ability to fight off germs and sickness, it could infect the sinuses or lungs when inhaled through the air or on injured skin. Diabetes, cancer, organ transplants, stem cell transplants, low white blood cells, long-term corticosteroid use, injection drug use, too much iron, skin injury and premature or low birth weight are all considered to be risk factors.
(Photo : Rebecca Conway/Getty Images) Hospitals Burst At The Seams In India
NEW DELHI, INDIA - MAY 06: Medical staff attend to Covid-positive patients in the ICU ward at the Holy Family hospital on May 06, 2021 in New Delhi, India. India broke a fresh record on Thursday with over 412,000 new cases of Covid-19 as the total number of those infected according to Health Ministry data neared 20 million. The real figure could be up to ten times higher, many health experts say, due to a lack of widespread testing or reporting, and only patients who succumbed in hospitals being counted. Hospitals have begun turning away people suffering from Covid-19, having run out of space for the crushing number of people seeking help.
Black fungus complication adds to India s COVID woes
Bengalaru, India
The Indian Government has told doctors to look out for signs of mucormycosis or black fungus in COVID-19 patients as hospitals report a rise in cases of the rare but potentially fatal infection.
The state-run Indian Council of Medical Research said at the weekend that doctors treating COVID-19 patients, diabetics and those with compromised immune systems should watch for early symptoms including sinus pain or nasal blockage on one side of the face, one-sided headache, swelling or numbness, toothache and loosening of teeth.
A woman walks past a graffiti on a street, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mumbai, India, 10th May. PICTURE: Reuters/Francis Mascarenhas
Health workers and volunteers in personal protective suits wait to receive patients outside a Covid-19 hospital in New Delhi. AP
BENGALURU: The Indian government has told doctors to look out for signs of mucormycosis or “black fungus” in Covid-19 patients as hospitals report a rise in cases of the rare but potentially fatal infection.
The state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said at the weekend that doctors treating Covid-19 patients, diabetics and those with compromised immune systems should watch for early symptoms including sinus pain or nasal blockage on one side of the face, one-sided headache, swelling or numbness, toothache and loosening of teeth.