Is Mucormycosis an inevitable complication of Covid-19 in India?

ABSTRACT Mucormycosis or black fungus infection is a less common disease but highly fatal infection, infecting the immunocompromised individuals. The site of predilection of the fungus is found to be lungs and brain in addition to its sequestration in sinusoidal spaces. Presently with the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic, the prevalence of this infection is found to be high in the Indian population. The fungus establishes itself by affecting the compromised immune system of an individual and thereby making the individual susceptible to other diseases/ infection. The reasons attributed to the sudden upsurge are steroidal therapeutics abuse, tocilizumab therapy and diabetes mellitus.To avert the cytokine storm, the medical health workers are necessitated to include steroid drugs in COVID 19 treatment protocol however inclusion of these drugs in patients who do essentially require steroids can have their immune system debilitated and permit the invasion of this fungus. According to International Diabetes Federation (IDF), 77 million Indians are known to be diabetic, cautioning the physicians to be vigilante of the impending black fungus infection in the event of COVID19 affliction in such individuals. There is causal relationship between anti-hyperglycemic drugs and weakened immune system and opportunity for the fungus invasion. This review attempts to explain the inter-relatedness of COVID19 infection, its treatment and eventual black fungus infection risk.

Analysis of the influence factors of cirrhosis complicated with upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage / 中国综合临床

Objective To explore the influence factors of cirrhosis complicated with upper gastrointestinal bleeding,and to guide the clinical treatment of patients with cirrhosis and prevent upper gastrointestinal bleeding.Methods One hundred and seventy-five cases patients with cirrhosis and upper gastrointestinal bleeding were treated in the Infectious Disease Hospital of Tangshan and the Affiliated Hospital of North China University of Science and Technology from July 2013 to July 2015 as the case group.One hundred and eighty-two patients with cirrhosis and no upper gastrointestinal bleeding at the same period in hospital as the control group.A face to face questionnaire was used to fill in the questionnaire.Results Multifactor conditional Logistic regression analysis showed that onset season (OR =4.185,95％ CI:1.874-8.354),non steroidal drugs (OR =6.215,95％ CI:2.681-15.532),drinking (OR =5.481,95％ CI:3.205-11.225),portal vein highpressure gastropathy(OR =7.658,95％ CI:3.227-14.714),diameter of portal vein (OR =8.901,95％ CI:1.218-9.026),liver function classification (OR =13.124,95 ％ CI:2.107-15.228) and esophageal varices (OR =11.021,95％ CI:2.181-13.487) were related with patients with liver cirrhosis complicated with upper digestive tract hemorrhage.Conclusion The onset season,nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs,drinking,portal hypertensive gastropathy,portal vein diameter,liver function classification and esophageal varices are the risk fators of liver cirrhosis complicated with upper digestive tract hemorrhage factors.