India health officials said this week that COVID-19 patients in the country are suffering from a fungal infection that “can disfigure facial features and even kill,” according to Bloomberg.
- The deadly black fungus — called mucormycosis — can injure the sinuses and lungs when it is inhaled.
- It can be treated. But if it is left untreated, then it “can lead to loss of vision, and in some cases, increase the risk of mortality,” according to India Today.
Patients who have been in the hospital and ICU for a long time are at the highest risk of inhaling the fungus, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research.
- “The rare but deadly infection can kill and maim patients, with some COVID sufferers losing their upper jaws and eyes after contracting it,” Bloomberg reports.
India’s continued COVID-19 crises have led to infections of the fungus because the nation has had to use medical equipment so consistently. The fungus can infect people when flowing through the oxygen tubes. The fungi has been found in hospitals in India.
The fungus was around before the pandemic. But now it is creating more cases because the country’s health care system has been stretched to the limit, according to Bloomberg.
University of Queensland professor of medicine Paul Griffin said the COVID-19 pandemic “tipped the balance” to allow the fungus to spread even more, according to Australia’s ABC.
- “With the germ there in the background, it’s inevitable in a lot of ways we will see more cases (of mucormycosis) reported in India,” he said.