Post-COVID Mucormycosis in India: A formidable challenge

Rao, Vishal; Arakeri, Gururaj; Madikeri, Gaurav; Shah, Ashwin; S Oeppen, Rachel; A Brennan, Peter

Together with the ongoing serious Covid-19 second wave in India, a serious fungal infection, mucormycosis has been increasingly found in Covid-19 recovered patients. Colloquially known as “black fungus”, mucormycosis commonly causes necrosis in the head and neck region including the nose, paranasal sinuses, orbits, facial bones, with possible intracranial spread. The disease causes high morbidity and mortality given that diagnosis is often delayed, and that is progresses rapidly. Given the sheer magnitude of the outbreak, the Indian Health Ministry has advised all states to declare mucormycosis an epidemic. Typically, the disease has been found linked to COVID-19 infections caused by the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant which has spread rapidly throughout India. This variant has already become a cause for global concern, having spread to at least 40 countries, including the USA, and UK. We present the findings of a study conducted on post-COVID Mucormycosis patients and discusses the associated risk factors to raise awareness for OMFS colleagues.