AIIMS chief tells you how to keep black fungus at bay

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There is rising concern over black fungus (mucormycosis) infections in the country among Covid-19 patients. With the number of cases surpassing the 7,000 mark and the disease being declared an epidemic, Indianarrative.com highlights AIIMS, Delhi, Director Randeep Guleria’s  advice on how to avoid the deadly disease.</p>
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<strong>Preventive steps</strong></p>
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Diabetic Patient + Steroid usage + COVID Positive – all three combined together place a person under high risk of getting the black fungus (mucormycosis) infection. Hence diabetic patients should always monitor and control their blood sugar level.</p>
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Misuse of steroids is also a cause for concern that directly affects one’s immune system.</p>
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COVID Positive patients with mild form of the infection should strictly avoid taking steroids. While steroids are of no use in the treatment of mild COVID cases, those taking steroids increases the risk of secondary infections like Mucormycosis.</p>
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It leads to a high risk of fungal infection even after recovery from COVID-19. Hence if a COVID-infected person’s oxygen saturation level is normal, and he or she is categorized as clinically mild, steroids should be completely avoided.</p>
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<strong>Symptoms</strong></p>
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Typical symptoms of the disease are blackening or discolouration over the nose, blurred or double vision, chest pain, breathing difficulties and coughing blood.</p>
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<strong>Why and how black fungus affects Covid patients</strong></p>
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Steroids used in treating COVID-19 tend to bring down the count of lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are one of the three types of white blood cells whose job is to defend our body against disease-causing pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites.The reduced count of lymphocytes leads to a medical condition called lymphopenia, making way for opportunistic fungal infection in COVID-19 patients.</p>
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There is a higher chance of occurrence of mucormycosis in patients whose immune system is not functioning well, and since COVID-19 treatment tends to suppress the working of the immune system, it places such patients at a higher risk of contracting the black fungus infection.</p>