Black Fungus is indeed an alarming danger that has been widely discussed in the media. Almost every news-daily throughout the nation and various news websites are updating the number of Black Fungus (mucormycosis) victims.
The most popular myth is that many among the common crowds are with the wrong notion that it is contagious. A cartoon that went viral also depicted Black Fungus as one of the offspring of Coronavirus. Though the popular cartoonist intended to depict all problems at one place in a dramatic way, many took it literally.
A doctor from Visakhapatnam says, “Black Fungus is not the byproduct of Covid-19. As per my observation, one of the major reasons for mucormycosis could be giving heavy doses of antibiotics along with high doses of steroids. There is no established treatment protocol to handle this pandemic, so many of the doctors are focusing on saving the lives of critical patients first. As and when a person is brought to the hospital with SPO2 levels below 85 and sometimes even at below 70, he is being put on oxygen support first. Then injecting steroids, giving Remdisivir along with some antibiotics is the protocol followed by many of the doctors across the nation. Not everyone who undergoes this treatment will be at the risk of catching mucormycosis. But a small percentage of such patients are prone to serious infection”.
“On the other hand there are several patients who are discharged from the hospital after getting out of danger. But their steroids are not being tapered carefully. There may be no medical advice for the diabetic patients in this category. The sudden cease of high dose steroids may also lead to serious viral, bacterial and fungal infections. Mucormycosis can be suspected to be one among such infections. Diabetic patients are more prone to the risk. This is my hypothesis. Extended survey and research needs to be done on this and there should be a standard treatment protocol throughout the nation to put an end to Black Fungus cases”, the Doctor concluded.