ABSTRACT
Introduction: Zygomycetes consisting of Mucorales order is a group of fungal infections. These species cause life threatening opportunistic fungal infections mucormycosis. This infection is highly prevalent in immunocompromised. During the 2nd wave of Covid 19 pandemic corticosteroid treatment was used which has been linked to development of Mucormycosis. In our tertiary care teaching hospital we saw that patients suffering from Covid-19 infections developed mucormycosis. We present these cases in our study. To study the clinical, demographical,and Laboratory parameters in Covid-19 patients with Mucormycosis. Material and Methods: Retrospective Study. All biopsy proven cases of Mucormycosis (which developed after Covid-19 infection) were included. Relevant Clinical Demographics and Laboratory data was retrieved from the available case sheets. The data was tabulated in Excel sheet and further reviewed. Results: A total of 22 patients were diagnosed as suffering from mucormycosis majority were unvaccinated. 11 patients out of 22 (50%) started manifesting mucormycosis within one week of COVID infection. All the patients who had only single comorbidity (22.72%) suffered from mild disease and patient who had more than one comorbidity suffered from moderate (27.27%) to severe (50%) COVID infection. Conclusion: It is suggested that patients with Covid-19 infection are at risk for development of opportunistic fungal infections like Mucormycosis. Hence the physicians who are involved in treating such patients must be mindful of the fact that mucormycosis can develop in them. Histopathology helps in establishing a concrete diagnosis of Mucormycosis.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Many countries are implementing measures for social distancing to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The Indian government also issued an order for complete lockdown of the country, with all the nonessential services, including most of the services for nonemergency health issues, being temporarily suspended. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to understand the effect of pandemic lockdown on medical advice-seeking behavior and the medication practices of the non-COVID Indian patients confined to homes, who would have normally visited the outpatient departments (OPDs) for medical advice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study conducted online during the lockdown period. The questions dealt with medical advice-related practices, self-medication, the sources of medical advice, and the need to visit emergency department. Evaluation of data was done as for descriptive studies. RESULTS: A total of 106 people (34%) out of the 312 participants had either old or new health problems. Ninety-six of such people (90.5%) tried to manage their sufferings by either continuing the drugs prescribed earlier or by making phone calls to doctors along with taking the help of home remedies, if needed. Ten (9.5%) of the symptomatic participants did not consult any doctor waiting for natural course of relief. None of the participants practiced self-medication of modern medicine therapy. Only one participant (of the total 312) took hydroxychloroquine as self-medication for assumed prophylactic therapy against the COVID-19 infection. CONCLUSION: Most of the people with medical conditions, confined at home due to national lockdown, are coping with their problems without any irrational self-medication with modern medicines or any misuse of prophylactic therapy against the COVID infection. This seemingly positive trend may also have been due to the strict enforcement of the lockdown rules by the law enforcement agencies.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has spread very fast worldwide as a pandemic causing unprecedented morbidity and mortality. Most countries in the world have undergone emergency lockdown in an attempt to flatten the curve and reduce the load on healthcare systems. OBJECTIVE: This study was done to assess the knowledge, attitude, and perception toward the disease among the home-bound Indian population during the lockdown. METHODOLOGY: This was a questionnaire-based descriptive cross-sectional study conducted online. Compilation and assessment of the online data in the form of responses were done as for descriptive studies. RESULTS: Among the 320 participants of the study, the awareness about the epidemiological features, including the signs and symptoms of the disease, was very good (more than 99% in some aspects). The attitude toward the measures for prevention of disease at home and outside was also very good (more than 97%) in some aspects, with a scope of improvement in a few others. Only one-third had the knowledge of online (e-consultation) services floated by governments and hospitals for medical advice. Ten percent had the potential to misuse drugs as prophylaxis. Most of the participants perceived that they had no predictable idea about the shape of disease epidemiology in the near future and only hoped for things to get better. CONCLUSION: This study reflects that aggressive awareness drives have played an important role in the dissemination of knowledge and the development of informed positive attitude toward COVID-19. Few gaps in knowledge and practices related to disease epidemiology, safe practices, mobile app for tracking and the availability of e-resources for medical advice, still remain. These should be addressed more aggressively, to strengthen the efforts to overcome this unprecedented crisis.