Doctors believe that a yellow fungus is reported in a COVID patient in India for the first time in a human being. This news comes after black and white funguses have been on a rise in the hospitals as India still continues to battle the worst outbreak in the world.

The case of yellow fungus was flagged by doctors at one hospital in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh. Dr BP Tyagi, ENT specialist, said that a 45-year-old man had contracted a triple misfortune of black, white and yellow fungi infections. He said that yellow fungus is usually found in reptiles and he has found this for the 1st time in humans.

Both black and white mucormycosis are caused by mucormycetes that live in the environment in rotting vegetables and fruit, soils, plants and bread. It is still not clear if the yellow fungus falls into this category, as it acts slightly differently.

Dr Tyagi said that the symptoms start internally and are hidden and delay the diagnosis. It starts by having lethargy and a reduced appetiteas well as weight loss. In the later stages, yellow fungus can cause sunken eyes because of malnutrition and organ failure. The patient in India had nosebleed and urine leak too with eyes swollen and closed up.

Yellow fungus is treatable but takes longer time as compared to other fungi infections as it goes mostly unnoticed.

Many patients are diagnosed with a fungal infection after getting discharged from hospital. In patients with black fungus, the infected tissue, usually in the face, is removed by surgery. According to doctors, white fungus affects the lungs and is less deadly than black fungus.

Fungal infections are sickening the COVID patients in India for several weeks now and due to the shortage of appropriate medicine (i.e., amphotericin B), it is worsening the situation.

The patient who had all the three types of fungal infection is undergoing Covid treatment for two months. Fungal infections are seen mostly in patients who are severely ill and on ventilatory support. Doctors feel thatit may be due to the prolonged use of steroid drugsused to treat serious COVID patients.

Steroids help in reducing inflammation caused by an overactive immune response to fight against the coronavirus infection. But it can reduce immunity and increase blood sugar levels. This explains the mucormycosis link with diabetes.

Mucormycosis mostly affects people with health problems or those who take medicines that lower the bodys ability to fight against sickness. It can be life-threatening in diabetic or immunocompromised individuals, such as cancer or organ donor recipients.

Source: The Sun