Coronavirus: alarm in Uruguay for the detection of …

A few days ago, the news of the existence of a “black fungus”, which affects patients with Covid-19 in India, raised alarms in the scientific community. However, what seemed to be something isolated and distant had its Uruguay What this Wednesday confirmed a case of mucormycosis in a person infected with coronavirus.

In the chair of infectious diseases at the University of the Republic, infectious disease specialist Henry Albornoz said he was treating a man under the age of 50 with diabetes who, after overcoming covid-19, began to develop necrosis (tissue death) in the mucous membrane area. Through a laboratory test, it was confirmed that he had been infected with mucormycosis or “black fungus”.

The specialist said that “the important thing is not the identification of a case, but the Warning that immune degradation caused by Covid-19 may leave fertile ground for other infections“.

In India, which has confirmed more than 26 million people who have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, in recent weeks, around 9,000 cases of patients who later suffered from mucormycosis have been reported.

What is this black fungus?

Mucormycosis “is a fungal infection (fungus) sinuses, brain or lungs, which occurs in some people with weakened immune systems “, published Medline Plus, US National Library of Medicine.

For his part, Atul Patel, a specialist in infectious diseases, explained that this fungal infection mainly affects “patients with uncontrolled diabetes or who have complications from diabetes”.

“It’s not something that everyone can get,” the doctor said, adding that, in that sense, “a determining factor which also contributes to an increase in the incidence is the use of steroids for the treatment of Covid-19 infection“.

Mucormycosis, added the Medline Plus website, “it is caused by different types of fungi that are commonly found in decaying organic matter. This stuff includes rotting bread, fruits and vegetables as well as piles of soil and compost. “

He also added that although most people come in contact with these fungi at some point, “people with weakened immune systems are more likely to get it.”

What can be the consequences of this black fungus?

The specialized site specifies that there may be several:

-Infection of the paranasal sinuses and the brain called rhinocerebral infection;

-Blood clots that block the vessels to the brain;

-Pneumonia that gets worse quickly and can spread to the chest cavity, heart and brain.

-Mucormicosis of the gastrointestinal tract, skin and kidneys.