Mucormycosis—A significant hazard in the COVID-19 pandemic?

Abstract

Mucormycosis was the third most common angio-invasive fungal infection after candidiasis and aspergillosis. However, the frequency of this disease seems to be increasing with the arrival of COVID-19 infection. Despite efforts to better understand the pathophysiology of mucormycosis, its fatality rate remains high. Therefore, this review article aims to accomplish an evidence-based review answering whether mucormycosis is a significant hazard in the era of COVID-19 infection. It contains a wealth of information about the infection's aggressive and deadly characteristics in diabetic and immunocompromised individuals, as well as its pathogenesis, clinical aspects, and management, along with its link to COVID-19, which is the need of the hour.The method used to assemble all the information was a review of the literature, along with multiple case reports supporting the occurrence of COVID-19 linked mucormycosis. This article concludes that uncontrolled diabetes mellitus in COVID-19 patients makes them more vulnerable to secondary infections, primarily mucormycosis, due to the over-zealous use of corticosteroids for its treatment, resulting in immunosuppression. The diagnosis and treatment of this black fungus have also been established to be quite challenging. The effective management of mucormycosis in immunocompromised individuals is centered on a multimodal approach that includes early diagnosis, or cessation of the primary prompting factors, administration of antifungal agents at ideal doses, and comprehensive amputation of all devitalized tissues, along with several adjunctive remedies.