Deadly COVID Black Fungus Mucormycosis Kills White Folk In Arkansas

It's a phenomenon first identified in India earlier this year: Patients who have or are recovering from COVID-19 who then contract a sometimes deadly fungal infection known as mucormycosis -- also known as "black fungus," Ernie Mundell reported for HealthDay and MedicalNews.

Photo Insert: The condition is caused by a variety of naturally occurring fungi that are typically harmless but can trigger illness among folk whose immune systems have been depleted by illness.

Now, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said isolated cases of the disease are hitting COVID patients in the United States.

"During Sept. 17-24, 2021, three clinicians independently notified the Arkansas Department of Health [ADH] of multiple patients with mucormycosis after a recent diagnosis of COVID-19," CDC researchers reported.

The condition is caused by a variety of naturally occurring fungi that are typically harmless but can trigger illness among folk whose immune systems have been depleted by illness, including COVID-19.

In a statement issued by the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in May, experts there explained that "people catch mucormycosis by coming in contact with the fungal spores in the environment [soil or decomposing leaves]. It can also develop on the skin after the fungus enters the skin through a cut, scrape, burn, or other types of skin trauma.

"Mucormycosis begins to manifest as skin infection in the air pockets located behind our forehead, nose, cheekbones, and in between the eyes and teeth," the Indian agency added.

"It then spreads to eyes, lungs and can even spread to the brain. It leads to blackening or discoloration over the nose, blurred or double vision, chest pain, breathing difficulties, and coughing of blood."

Reporting in the Dec. 17 issue of the CDC journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers led by CDC epidemiologist Dr. Jeremy Gold said they identified 10 lab-confirmed cases of black fungus illness in patients treated at six Arkansas hospitals between July 12 and Sept. 28, 2021.

Nine of the 10 patients lived in the state, all were white, seven were men and the average patient age was 57. All had tested positive for COVID within the prior two months, and eight of the 10 patients also had diabetes -- another noted risk factor for contracting mucormycosis, the researchers noted.

Many cases were severe -- four patients showed disease that had spread to the nose and mouth, with three of those patients also having the brain affected. In two cases, the illness attacked the lungs, and in one case the gastrointestinal system was affected, Gold's team said.

None of the patients had been vaccinated against the new coronavirus. Most patients did not survive their ordeal: "Five patients received surgical treatment to excise mucormycosis-affected tissue," the CDC researchers said, and "six of the 10 patients died during hospitalization or within one week of discharge."

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