Mucormycosis is a fungal infection that mainly affects people who are on medication for other health problems that reduces their ability to fight environmental pathogens.
This can lead to serious disease with warning sign and symptoms as follows
- · Pain and redness around eyes and/or nose
- · Fever
- · Headache
- · Coughing
- · Shortness of breath
- · Bloody vomits
- · Altered mental status
What Predisposes?
Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus
Immunosuppression by steroids
Prolonged ICU stay
Co-morbidities – post transplant/malignancy
Voriconazole therapy
How to Prevent?
Use masks if you are visiting dusty construction sites
Wear shoes, long trousers, long sleeve shirts and gloves
while handling soil (gardening), moss or manure
Maintain personal hygiene including thorough scrub bath
When to Suspect
(in COVID-19 patients, diabetics or immunosuppressed indiviuals )
Sinusitis – nasal blockade or congestion, nasal discharge
(blackish/bloody), local pain on the cheek bone
One sided facial pain, numbness or swelling
Blackish discoloration over bridge of nose/palate
Toothache, loosening of teeth, jaw involvement
Blurred or double vision with pain; fever, skin lesion;
thrombosis & necrosis (eschar)
Chest pain, pleural effusion, haemoptysis, worsening of
respiratory symptoms
DO's
Control hyperglycemia
Monitor blood glucose level post COVID-19 discharge and
also in diabetics
Use steroid judiciously – correct timing, correct dose and
duration
Use clean, sterile water for humidifiers during oxygen
therapy
Use antibiotics/antifungals judiciously
DONT'S
Do not miss warning signs and symptoms
Do not consider all the cases with blocked nose as cases of
bacterial sinusitis, particularly in the context of
immunosuppression and/or COVID-19 patients on
immunomodulators
Do not hesitate to seek aggressive investigations, as
appropriate (KOH staining & microscopy, culture, MALDITOF), for detecting fungal etiology
Do not lose crucial time to initiate treatment for
mucormycosis
