India has been extremely affected with the mortality rate of Covid-19 pandemic. People suffering or recovered with the disease are being attacked by Black Fungus infection which is again taking toll on lives. Recently in Patna, Bihar cases of White Fungus infection have been reported.
What is a Black Fungus?
Black Fungus, also known as Mucormycosis, is an infectious disease attacking people with low immunity. The main symptoms of this disease are redness around eyes, blackening and discoloration over the nose, blurry and unclear vision, breathing difficulties, coughing blood, chest pain etc.
It has a very high mortality rate, if not death then also it is very scary. It results in making the patient end up blind, deaf or permanently disfigured. It is just like growing bread mold by exposing it to moisture. Mucormycosis is caused by a group of molds, called mucormycetes. Just like bread mold Mucormycosis needs moisture to develop.
What is a White Fungus?
According to medical experts white fungus is more deadly than Black Fungus. The risk of White Fungus is heightened by the unsanitary usage of Oxygen cylinders. The symptoms of this infection appears on several parts of the body including stomach, skin, genitals, kidney, brain, lungs etc. “Using tap water in the humidifier attached to an oxygen cylinder could be a major contributor to chest infection in people on oxygen support, according to Arunesh Kumar Singh, a doctor at Paras Hospital.
Why Covid-19 survivors are in high risk?
The repeated insertion of tubes and nasal cannules for oxygen and airways has made space for the moisture to built up. Moreover, after being diagnosed with covid the immunity gets low which is another favourable factor for Mucormycosis and White Fungus to develop. Another reason is the intake of strong drugs like steroids which have been used for the treatment of Covid-19.
Stay protected
1 Get vaccinated whenever your turn is lined up.
2 Stay indoors to lessen the chances of getting infected with covid.
3 Don’t take unsupervised and unprescribed medicines or steroids.
4 Maintain proper personal hygiene and keep the surroundings clean.