Abstract :
SARS CoV 2 infection can manifest as a mild form to life threatening pneumonia. It is also associated with wide range of secondary bacterial and fungal infections. Many cases of COVID 19 associated mucormycosis have been reported worldwide. Mucormycosis is an uncommon but a fatal angio-invasive fungal infection that usually affects patients with altered immunity. It mainly affects people who are immunocompromised, or patients already infected with other diseases. A thorough literature search was carried out across PubMed (n=35), Scopus (n=40), and Google Scholar (n=50) database using the keywords COVID 19, fungal infections, mucormycosis, diabetes mellitus, corticosteroids, ventilator, immunosuppression. The articles published till July 21, 2021, were analysed. 94% of patients with COVID-19-associated mucormycosis have a history of poorly controlled diabetes. The use of glucocorticoids for the management of COVID-19 was observed in 85% of the cases. 8% of the reported patients were suffering from haematological malignancies; 4% were on immunosuppressive therapy. Males were more affected than the females. Rhino-orbito cerebral involvement is observed in most of the cases (91%), followed by rhino-orbital involvement (14%), pulmonary (7%). The least reported are cutaneous (1%) and GIT (1%) involvement. Prevention of COVID-associated mucormycosis needs to focus on addressing the underlying risk factors: aiming for better glycemic control in those with diabetes, appropriate use of systemic corticosteroids and prevention of unnecessary use of antibiotic, antifungal and other immunomodulators..
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