MUCORMYCOSIS FUNGUS

Subject: Science

Context: In another shocking discovery related to the post-COVID-19 recovery, ENT surgeons in Delhi have come across over 12 cases of coronavirus-triggered deadly Mucormycosis fungal infection, within the last 15 days.

Concept:

• Mucormycosis (previously called zygomycosis) is a serious but rare fungal infection caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes.
• These molds live throughout the environment. Mucormycosis mainly affects people who have health problems or take medicines that lower the body’s ability to fight germs and sickness.
• It most commonly affects the sinuses or the lungs after inhaling fungal spores from the air, or the skin after the fungus enters the skin through a cut, burn, or other type of skin injury. However, it can occur in nearly any part of the body.
• Mucormycosis is a serious infection and needs to be treated with prescription antifungal medicine, usually amphotericin B, posaconazole, or isavuconazole.