Coronavirus | Invasive fungal illness a symptom of COVID-19, say medical doctors

Although the lack of odor and style are among the many most typical signs of COVID-19, medical doctors at the moment are seeing a lot of sufferers coming in with an invasive fungal an infection.

While medical doctors have been reporting a lot of post-COVID manifestations in sufferers, ENT specialists are seeing a surge of COVID-19 sufferers — particularly diabetic sufferers, the aged and people with immuno-suppressed circumstances — with an invasive fungal an infection of the sinuses, which regularly enters the eyes and the mind.

“We are seeing an invasive fungal disease. Mucor is a very aggressive fungus. Patients with diabetes or immuno-compromised conditions are coming in with this complication. The fungus invades the sinuses and goes into the orbit and the brain. This could be lethal,” mentioned Mohan Kameswaran, managing director of the Madras ENT Research Foundation.

The illness had been seen from March, however medical doctors had been now treating sufferers with these signs at the very least 5 to 6 instances extra, he added. “The problem is that it spreads like wildfire to the skull base and then impacts the brain. This is seen not only in patients with uncontrolled diabetes, but also in patients with moderate and mild diabetes. In other cases, COVID-19 may have interfered with the immunity, or the ability to fight against lethal diseases,” Mr. Kameswaran mentioned.

Venkatakarthikeyan C., advisor ENT head and neck, cranium base surgical procedure, Apollo Hospitals, mentioned they’d additionally handled such sufferers just lately. “This is the worst category that we have seen among patients who test positive for COVID-19. They come in with complains of double vision, decreased vision, complete loss of vision, altered sensorium, facial swelling and palatal erosion. If a patient has facial swelling or symptoms that impact the eyes, it is important to consult an ENT doctor as soon as possible,” he mentioned.

These signs normally current themselves a number of weeks after a affected person exams constructive for COVID-19. He mentioned a cause for this could possibly be both as a result of diabetes or as a result of the COVID-19 an infection itself has altered a affected person’s immunity, presumably as a result of a excessive dosage of steroids. Patients with different circumstances, together with renal failure or these present process chemotherapy, is also affected.

Three-fold method

The signs included a lower or a blurring of the imaginative and prescient, the bleeding of the nostril and a persistent nasal obstruction. “We take a three-fold approach to treat such patients. We try to reverse the immuno-compromised condition, including trying to control blood sugar levels in case of diabetes or stopping the intake of high-dose steroids. We need to reverse the immuno-compromised status, confirm if it is a fungal infection and then do an aggressive operation in which we debride as much unhealthy tissues as possible. Simultaneously, we start the patients on anti-fungal medications. The prognosis is good if a patient comes in as soon as the sinuses are involved,” he added.

Apart from this, sufferers with COVID-19 are available with minor signs, together with a lack of odor and style, and get well in per week to a month’s time, the medical doctors mentioned.