ABSTRACT
While the COVID-19 outbreak in India continues, a fatal fungal illness known as "Mucormycosis," often known as "Black Fungus," has caused a new health concern in the country. Several state governments proclaimed a pandemic after more than 11,000 instances of black fungus infection were confirmed across India. During the second wave of Coronavirus, an uncommon fungal infection appeared. Experts attribute this situation to pre-diabitic condition of coronavirus-positive patients and excessive administration of steroids. Mucormycosis was a reasonably common infection in India before the COVID-19 epidemic, compared to other nations across the world, and it expanded fast along with the pandemic. Factors that accelerated the spread of Mucormycosis are infected bed linen in the hospital, packaged foods and medications. This fungus infection, caused by opportunistic pathogenic fungi, is life-threatening in immunocompromised individuals and is increasing at a faster rate, with greater death rates. A more detailed and comprehensive study of the pathogenesis of disease will lead to well developed treatment methods.This review will focus on mechanism, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of Mucormycosis, or Black fungus outbreak during post COVID-19 complications in India. © 2021, SILAE (Italo-Latin American Society of Ethnomedicine). All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Understanding the pathophysiology of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection remains a significant challenge of our times. The gingival crevicular fluid being representative of systemic status and having a proven track record of detecting viruses and biomarkers forms a logical basis for evaluating the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The study aimed to assess gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) for evidence of SARS-CoV-2 in 33 patients who were deemed to be COVID-19 positive upon nasopharyngeal sampling. An attempt was also made to comparatively evaluate it with saliva in terms of its sensitivity, as a diagnostic fluid for SARS-CoV-2. GCF and saliva samples were collected from 33 COVID-19-confirmed patients. Total RNA was extracted using NucliSENS easyMAG (bioMérieux) and eluted in the elution buffer. Envelope gene (E gene) of SARS-CoV-2 and human RNase P gene as internal control were detected in GCF samples by using the TRUPCR SARS-CoV-2 RT qPCR kit V-2.0 (I) in an Applied Biosystems 7500 real-time machine. A significant majority of both asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients exhibited the presence of the novel coronavirus in their GCF samples. Considering the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the nasopharyngeal swab sampling as gold standard, the sensitivity of GCF and saliva, respectively, was 63.64% (confidence interval [CI], 45.1% to 79.60%) and 64.52% (CI, 45.37% to 80.77%). GCF was found to be comparable to saliva in terms of its sensitivity to detect SARS-CoV-2. Saliva samples tested positive in 3 of the 12 patients whose GCF tested negative, and likewise GCF tested positive for 2 of the 11 patients whose saliva tested negative on real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The results establish GCF as a possible mode of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, which is the first such report in the literature, and also provide the first quantifiable evidence pointing toward a link between the COVID-19 infection and oral health.