05/26/2021 21:08
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 05/26/2021 9:08 PM
They detect in Uruguay a case of "black fungus" in a patient infected with coronavirus, which set off the alert in the scientific community of that country.
It is a "mucormycosis" that in recent days affected thousands of people with covid in India.
According to the newspaper
El País
in Uruguay, a man with diabetes in his 50s suffers from this infection.
According to the information, it is unknown if it is the first case in Uruguay.
"The important thing is not the identification of a case, but the warning that the immune wear caused by the coronavirus can leave fertile ground for other infections," Uruguayan authorities reported.
What is "black fungus"?
Black fungus in India.
Photo file.
Mucormycosis, nicknamed "black fungus" by doctors in India,
is usually more serious in patients whose immune systems are weakened
by this or other infections.
Aggressively attacks the nose, eyes, and sometimes the brain.
"The cases of mucormycosis infections in patients with Covid-19 after their recovery are almost four or five times more numerous than those detected before the pandemic," Atul Patel, an infectious disease specialist based in Ahmedabad, told AFP agency. member of the state's Covid-19 task force.
The specialized portal
Medline Plus
assures that this fungus is "a fungal infection of the paranasal sinuses, the brain or the lungs, which occurs in some people with a weakened immune system", the information rescued El País.
Indian infectious disease doctor
Atul Patel
told EFE news agency that this fungal infection mostly affects "
patients with uncontrolled diabetes
or who have some complications from diabetes."
"
It is not something that everyone can contract,
" the doctor clarified, adding that, in this sense, "a determining factor that is also contributing to increase the incidence is the use of steroids for the treatment of covid infection. -19 ".
Among the recommendations, to prevent the appearance of this infection, are to maintain proper hygiene and the use of a mask, or to protect the whole body when gardening work is done.
It can present as pain and redness around the eyes or nose, fever, headache, cough, breathing difficulties, vomiting blood, and altered mental status.
Health experts said the disease affects the sinuses, brain and lungs and can be life-threatening for diabetics or severely immunocompromised patients, such
as cancer or HIV / AIDS patients
.
Expands in India
At least 19 regions of India, the last of them Jammu and Kashmir, raised mucormycosis, a sometimes lethal infection popularly known as "black fungus", to the epidemic status of which a growing number of cases have been detected in COVID patients
A man undergoes a checkup on suspicion of being infected with mucormycosis in Bombay.
Photo EFE.
The Indian government said the country has registered 11,717 cases, said federal Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers
Sadananda Gowda
.
According to Gowda, Gujarat tops the list with 2,859 cases, followed by Maharashtra with 2,770 cases.
"Another 29,250 ampoules of the drug Amphotericin B, used in the treatment of mucormycosis, were assigned to all states today. The assignment was made based on the number of patients in treatment, which is 11,717 in the entire country", Gowda wrote on social media.
The Federal Ministry of Health asked all states to declare an epidemic of mucormycosis infections and report all cases.
The directive was issued after the number of
patients with covid and mucormycosis skyrocketed in the country
.
The disease has become a new challenge in India.
Source: agencies
AFG
Look also
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