The Clinicopathological Profile of COVID-19 Associated Mucormycosis in Patients of a Tertiary Care Hospital in Jammu Region

Abstract

Background: With the ongoing serious COVID-19 pandemic in India, mucormycosis, colloquially called as black fungus, has emerged as a serious fungal infection in patients who were earlier infected with COVID 19 virus. The prevalence of mucormycosis in India is approximately 140 per million population which is roughly 80 times more than that in the developed countries.
Aim: The aim of our study was to analyse the clinicopathological profile of COVID19 positive patients presenting with mucormycosis to the Department of Pathology, Government Medical College, Jammu.
Methods: We, here present 60 COVID positive patients, who had later on presented clinically as mucormycosis, along with radiological evidence of the same which was then confirmed on histopathology.
Results: Mucormycosis was more common in male patients with male: female ratio of 4:1. All the 60 cases presented as rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis as their clinical presentation. Among various predisposing factors, diabetes mellitus came out to be the most common contributing factor.
Conclusion: COVID 19 has set a fertile ground for development of life-threatening infection like mucormycosis because of the various predisposing factors involved. Keeping in mind the fatality of this infection the diagnostic study for this opportunistic pathogen should not be ignored in case the patient is COVID-19 positive and immunosuppressed