An ophthalmologist’s perspective on post COVID mucormycosis

ABSTRACT

Background: Due to the surge of post COVID mucormycosis in India there has been a significant patient load seen in hospitals we have observed that mucor is not the only culprit and there has been other fungi like aspergillus and candida, who have led to increased morbidity and mortality. Aim: To conduct a retrospective analysis on laboratory reports of specimens sent after surgical intervention of patients admitted with mucormycosis and to identify the weightage of different fungal infections in the post COVID era. Materials and Methods: It is a hospital based retrospective review of mycology and histopathology reports of post COVID rhino orbital mucormycosis patients referred from ophthalmology, ear nose throat surgery, oral maxillofacial surgery, neurosurgery department of mahatma gandhi memorial medical college, Indore, Madhya Pradesh from 1 June to 7 July 2021. Result: Out of 240 samples sent for histopathology examination, 1.6% samples showed mucormycosis with secondary aspergillosis while 98.33% samples showed primarily mucormycosis likewise 270 KOH mount reported around 8.51% mucormycosis with secondary aspergillosis, 4.81% reported primary aspergillosis, 72.15% reported primarily mucormycoses. Conclusion: We acknowledge that aspergillus and candida has contributed significantly in post covid mycoses and that mucor is not the only culprit. © 2022 Innovative Publication, All rights reserved.