Mucormycosis: the black fungus strikes people with Covid-19

Diagnosis and intervention as early as possible is important. This includes blood sugar control, urgent removal of dead tissue, and antifungal drug therapy.

But unfortunately, many infections will be diagnosed late and access to treatment is limited. This was the case in India before Covid-19 and the current demands of the health care system will only make matters worse.

Controlling these fungal infections will require increased awareness, better tests to diagnose them early, as well as a focus on controlling diabetes and judicious use of corticosteroids. Patients will need access to timely surgery and antifungal therapy. But more research is also needed on the prevention of these infections.

* Monica Slavin is Lung Infection Expert at Royal Melbourne Hospital and Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Peter MacCallum Cancer Center in Melbourne, Australia.

* Karin Thursky is Professor of Microbiology at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Australia and Director of the National Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship.

This article originally appeared on The Conversation, and is republished under a Creative Commons license.

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