A rare black fungus is infecting many of India's COVID-19 patients—why?
Indiscriminate steroid usage and high blood sugar levels are potentially responsible for driving an uptick in a rare fungal infection among vulnerable COVID-19 patients.
On May 9, Ananyaa Mazumdar received a call that left her stumped. Her panic-stricken cousin explained that her 48-year-old aunt, who had recently recovered from a COVID-19 infection, had lost most of her vision in both eyes.
The emergency room doctors at the Max Super Speciality Hospital in Ghaziabad, a satellite city outside India’s capital New Delhi, suggested that because the infection was so advanced, she needed immediate surgery to remove her eyes. Aghast at first, the family soon realized that they had no other option.
“It’s all that could be done—and had to be done,” Mazumdar said. “It’s like we were sitting on a ticking time bomb.”
Her diabetic aunt was diagnosed with an extremely rare fungal infection called mucormycosis
