COVID-19 recovered patient diagnosed with GREEN FUNGUS in Indore - Check all details about the disease here

As the number of COVID-19 cases decline in the country, the reporting of a new disease has been alarming for the citizens. A 34-year-old COVID-19 survivor was diagnosed with green fungus infection in Madhya Pradesh's Indore and shifted to Mumbai by air ambulance for treatment. Earlier, cases of black fungus had been recorded in India. However, no case of green fungus had been heard so far in the country.

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Dr Ravi Dosi, head of the Department of Chest Diseases, Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences (SAIMS) told PTI that the man, who had recovered from COVID-19, underwent a test on suspicion that he had contracted the dreaded black fungus infection (mucormycosis). But he was instead found to have green fungus (Aspergillosis) infection in his sinuses, lungs and blood.

According to an ANI report, this 34-year-old patient was airlifted from a private hospital in Indore to Mumbai's HInduja Hospital. Apoorva Tiwari, District Data Manager, Health Department, Indore informed, "The 34-year-old man, COVID patient was being treated in Indore's Aurobindo hospital for the last one and a half month. He had 90 per cent lung infection. During diagnosis, green fungus was detected in his lungs which is different from Mucormycosis or Black Fungus."

Dr. Dosi further informed PTI that whether the nature of green fungus and whether it was different in people who had recovered from COVID-19 need more research.

On May 24, 2021, Dr Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS, New Delhi, at a media briefing held at the National Media Centre, PIB assured that black fungus was not a communicable disease which means it does not spread from one person to another, like COVID-19.

Dr. Guleria also advised against using the term 'black fungus' for Mucormycosis as it leads to a lot of confusion. He explained, "Black fungus is another family; this term got associated with Mucormycosis due to the presence of black dots among the culture of white fungal colonies. In general, there are various types of fungal infections such as candida, aspergillosis, cryptococcus, histoplasmosis and coccidioidomycosis. Mucormycosis, candida and aspergillosis are the ones observed more in those with low immunity."

Coming back to the patient recently diagnosed with green fungus, Dr. Doshi informed PTI that the patient was admitted to a local hospital two months ago with almost 100 percent coronavirus infection in the lungs and was treated in the ICU for about a month. He added, "The patient recovered. But then he started having nose bleeds and high fever. He had also become very weak due to weight loss."