Delhi hospital treats 1st case of black fungus in kidney, lungs post-Covid

New Delhi: A 34- years old man from Ghaziabad has been successfully treated for a complicated case of Mucormycosis, also known as black fungus, after recovering from Covid infection, doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said here on Monday.

The Mucor had not only penetrated the nasal cavity but also spread to his left lung and the right kidney -- reported in medical literature as the first case in the world after Covid infection, the hospital said in a statement.

The patient Ranjeet Kumar Singh presented to the hospital with post-Covid illness, which included breathing difficulties, blood in sputum and high grade fever.

After investigation the doctors were shocked to find that Mucor had not spread from the nasal cavity to his left lung and the right kidney.

"Both the portion of the lung and the kidney had been severely damaged and there was a fear of further spread. Therefore an emergency removal of mucor infected areas was planned," Dr Ujjwal Parakh, Senior Consultant, Department of Chest Medicine, at SGRH, said in a statement.

Since mucor is a fast spreading disease and could further damage other organs, a part of his left lung and the entire right kidney was removed immediately as a life saving procedure. The complicated surgery lasted for six hours.

"It was a complicated case in which Mucor had penetrated part of the lung and kidney. The involvement of the kidney was total, and the kidney had become non functional. During surgery the fungus was found almost spreading to the liver, and the large intestine. Thus with great difficulty, the kidney could be removed without injuring the adjacent organs," added Dr Manu Gupta, Consultant, Department of Urology, at the hospital.

Post the surgery, which lasted six hours, Singh was put on oral antifungal medicine for a few weeks.

He was "discharged after 45 days of prolonged anti-fungal therapy. He is doing well now", Parakh said.

Mucormycosis is labelled as a rare and emerging fungal infection. India always has had the highest reported numbers of mucormycosis in the world, but when coupled with Covid-19 it became a disease of epidemic proportions in several Indian states during the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.

Till May 19, approximately 5,500 people were affected with Covid-19 Associated Mucormycosis (CAM) in India, resulting in 126 casualties.

India contributed to approximately 71 per cent of the global cases of CAM based on the published literature from December 2019 to the start of April 2021.