AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria says all age groups and even non-covid patients can contract Black Fungus.

New Delhi:

If you are recovering from COVID-19 and can’t get rid of that persistent headache or that swelling on one side of the face, immediately speak to a doctor and get tested for Black Fungus. Do the same if you find discolouration in the mouth and decreased sensation in any part of the face, according to the expert opinion of Dr Randeep Guleria, chief of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi.

Listing out more more such symptoms, Dr Guleria said, “If your nose is getting blocked and there is thrusting…those are early signs that you should start worrying. If there is loosening of a tooth, then, too, you should immediately consult your doctor.”

There were several ways of determining Black Fungus infection or myucormycosis.

An X-ray or a CT scan of the sinuses is done to see if there is infection. A second option, he said, was to do a biopsy through a nasal endoscopy.

“There is also a blood test that can be done…a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based test,” he told NDTV in an exclusive interview.      

Dr Guleria said more cases of Black Fungus were being reported in India, despite it not being contagious, because of a large diabetic population and the unrestricted use and sale of steroids. Myucormycosis cases came up in the first wave, too, he said, although the number is greater during the second wave due to the excessive use of steroids.

All age groups and even non-covid patients can contract myucormycosis, he said. However, those above 40, who are also diabetic, are more prone. Children are at lesser risk only because a majority of children only have mild Covid infection that does not require the use of steroids.