After Delhi & Mumbai rare 'black' fungal disease hits Gujarat, 44 hospitalized, 9 dead

A deadly fungal infection has been reported in Mumbai and Delhi after which the deadly disease has infected people in Gujarat. At least 44 people in Ahmedabad have been already hospitalised for the illness. 

The condition called Mucormycosis, is a rare yet deadly fungal disease that has been affecting an increasing number of people across the country. It has so far killed 9 people in Ahmedabad. The new disease has come at a time when the country is still battling the Covid-19 pandemic. Majority of the patients in Ahmedabad who have been infected by the disease mucormycosis had diabetes and were recovering from COVID-19. 

The Black fungus or mucormycosis has been a cause of disease and death of patients in transplants, and ICU and immunodeficient individuals since long. However, it is the rapid increase in the numbers seen in unsuspected recovering COVID-19 patients that is causing the grave concern, said Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in a statement on Monday. 

How does the infection mucormycosis affects your body?
The infection usually starts from the nose and spreads to eyes. While a quick diagnosis and treatment can cure the patient, left untreated, it can prove fatal.If you have swelling or pain in your nose and/or blurred eyesight, you should go to the doctor immediately.

As the infection spreads, it paralyses muscles around the pupils of the eye, leading to blindness. If the fungal infection spreads to the brain, the patient can get meningitis.

Who is at risk?
Mucormycosis mainly affects people who have health problems or take medicines that lower the body's ability to fight germs and sickness. This puts people recovering from COVID-19 or post-COVID issues at high risk. People with diabetes and health problems are also at high risk.