Black Fungus is not Contagious, Doctors Assures Worried COVID-19 Patients

Lucknow:

Ever since the rare disease known as mucormycosis, or the black fungus started coming to notice, COVID-19 patients upon recovery fear contracting this deadly disease. There has been a lot of misinformation that is being circulated, especially on social media, about the very nature of the disease. 

"I was worried sick due to the headache and frantically called all my friends to inquire about black fungus symptoms and searched about the disease on the internet, but all this exacerbated my fear because after reading about it, I felt I have most of the symptoms," said 24-year-old Lavi Singh who recently recovered from the novel coronavirus infection. 

Singh breathed a sigh of relief after finding that headaches are common among Covid survivors and that she had no other black fungus symptoms. 

 COVID-19 patients upon recovery have been asking doctors a lot of questions regarding the disease and many of them think that black fungus is contagious which spreads by contact, oxygenation, or the use of a humidifier. 

Black fungus is not infectious, according to physicians, and it often affects immunocompromised individuals and those on long-term steroids. They also ruled out the possibility of the infection spreading oxygenation, or the use of a humidifier. The doctors have also warned against the misinformation about this disease that are circulating on social media platforms. 

"Black fungus does not spread from animals to people. Those with low immunity for various reasons may get it. High steroids for a prolonged time also reduce immunity, making patients prone to such infections," said Dr Anany Gupta, a gastroenterology expert from AIIMS. 

"Mucor is commonly found in soil, plants, decaying fruits and vegetables, and manure in the form of spores. The infection occurs in the sinus or lungs when someone breathes in these spores. But these spores are destroyed by the immune system in most cases. It happens very rarely to those with very low immunity," Prof Sheetal Verma of microbiology at KGMU said. 

The centre after seeing a spike in the cases of mucormycosis or black fungus around the country is collaborating with state governments to find a solution. 

Also Read- Centre & States Closely Monitor the Growing Cases of Black Fungus (Mucormycosis) Across India

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