Article Context:
- What is Black fungus infection(mucormycosis)?
- Causes
- Symptoms
- Risks
- Affects Of Black fungus
- Treatment
- Preventions
- Do's and Don’ts
- FAQ's
What is Black fungus infection(mucormycosis)?

Black Fungus Causes:
Black Fungus Symptoms:
- Fever
- Cough
- Chest pain
- Shortness of breath
- Swelling on one side of your face
- Headache
- Sinus congestion
- Black lesions on the top of the nose or the inside of the mouth
- Belly pain
- Nausea and vomiting
- Gastrointestinal bleeding
- Blood in your stool
- Diarrhea
Black Fungus Risks:
- Uncontrolled diabetes, diabetic ketoacidosis, and diabetics taking steroids or tocilizumab.
- Patients taking immunosuppressants or receiving anticancer treatment, as well as those suffering from a chronic debilitating illness
- Patients taking high doses of steroids or tocilizumab for an extended period
- Cases of COVID-19 Severity
- Patients on oxygen who required nasal prongs, a mask, or a ventilatory support
Does Black fungus affects only COVID patients?
How Black fungus effects COVID patients?
Why is it occurring in COVID-19 patients?
How Black fungus affects non-covid people?
Black Fungus Treatment:
- Mucormycosis treatment must be fast and aggressive. The concern is due to the fact that by the time even a presumptive diagnosis is made, the patient has often suffered significant tissue damage which cannot be reversed.
- Most patients will need surgical and medical treatment.
- Most infectious disease experts say that without aggressive surgical debridement of the infected area, the patient is likely to die.
- Medicines play an important role. Two main aims are sought simultaneously: antifungal drugs to slow or stop the fungal spread and drugs to treat debilitating underlying diseases.
- Amphotericin B (initially intravenous) is the usual drug of choice for antifungal therapy.
- Posaconazole or isavuconazole can treat mucormycosis.
- Patients may even require an intravenous antifungal procedure lasting 4 -6 weeks.
- Patients with underlying diseases like diabetes need to be in optimal control of their diabetes.
- Patients normally on steroids or taking deferoxamine (Desferal; used to remove excess iron from the body) are likely to have these drugs stopped because they can increase the survival of fungi in the body.
- Patients may need additional surgeries and usually need antifungal treatment for an extended period (weeks to months) depending on the severity of the disease.
Black Fungus Preventions:
Do's and Don’ts to reduce the risk of Black fungus infection (mucormycosis):
Do not ignore warning signs and symptoms | |
Don’t consider that all cases of the blocked nose are caused by bacterial sinusitis, particularly in immunocompromised patients or COVID-19 patients on immunomodulators. | |
For detecting fungal etiology, do not be afraid to conduct aggressive investigations (KOH staining and microscopy, culture, MALDI-TOF) | |
Do not spend much time before starting treatment for mucormycosis. | |
Frequently Asked Questions:
Mucormycosis is a fungal infection caused by the mucormycetes group of fungi. It is abundant in natural environments, particularly soil.
Black fungus (mucormycosis) is a complication caused by a fungal infection. People catch mucormycosis by coming in contact with the fungal spores in the environment. It can also occur in the skin once the fungus enters through a cut, scrape, burn, or another sort of skin damage.
Amphotericin-B is an antifungal medication used to treat a rare infection known as black fungus (mucormycosis). Five more pharmaceutical companies have received new drug approval for the production of Amphotericin-B within three days, according to a statement from the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
Mucormycosis is a potentially fatal condition that causes blurred or double vision, chest pain, and breathing difficulties. It is most common in COVID-19 patients.
Covid-19 patients, patients with uncontrolled diabetic Mellitus (DM), Type 2 DM patients on high steroid therapy, patients receiving Immunosuppressive therapy, and patients in ICU for a long time, on oxygen therapy and with high ferritin are all high-risk categories for black fungus.
Mucormycosis is caused by a kind of mould known as a mucormycete. It may be present in the air, water, and even food. It enters the body by fungus spores in the air or can arise on the skin following a cut, burn, or skin damage
The rise in black fungus infections has been linked to an overuse of steroids in the treatment of coronavirus, which can severely weaken the immune system if used for a long time.
The medication needed to cure the virus could not be obtained from a medical shop since it could not be treated at home.
Local infections can occur if the fungus enters the body through a wound or burn. However, if it enters the body through the sinus, it can impact the eyes and, eventually, the brain, resulting in a deadly condition.
These illnesses are extremely dangerous, and most people will die if they are remaining untreated. The death rate ranges from 25% to 90%. Once the infection has gone to the brain, the fatality rate is quite high. As a result, early diagnosis and fast treatment are given a high priority.