In India, a fungal infection called mucormycosis has emerged in patients with Covid-19. It is the black discoloration of dead tissue that conferred upon this mould its fearsome moniker in the Indian media: “the black fungus”. Even before the pandemic, rates of mucormycosis in India were estimated to be about 70 times higher than in the rest of the world. Mucormycosis cases in Covid-19 patients have also been linked to poorly controlled diabetes and therapeutic steroids, a triad of risk factors some have dubbed “the unholy trinity”. The mucormycosis epidemic has been accompanied by a rush for antifungal treatments that have left India’s medicine cabinet empty.

Source: The Guardian June 02, 2021 06:00 UTC