‘Green fungus’ detected in India Covid patient as fungal infection cases continue to rise

34-year-old man with country’s first known infection of ‘green fungus’ started having nose bleeds

People lineup to register to receive a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine during an inoculation drive in Hyderabad, India, on 16 June, 2021. The first case of ‘green fungus’ has been found in a Covid-19 recovered patient in Madhya Pradesh (AFP via Getty Images)

A 34-year-old man from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, has been diagnosed with India’s first known case of “green fungus” infection and airlifted to a hospital in Mumbai for treatment.

The Covid-19 survivor was on Monday admitted to the Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai, Maharashtra, after his tests showed the presence of green fungus, also known as Aspergillosis, reports said.

District health statistics officials have called this “most likely India’s first case of such an ailment.”

Dr Ravi Dosi, head of the Department of Chest Diseases at Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences in Indore, told the media: “The man who was suspected of having contracted black fungus infection (mucormycosis) underwent a test, after which it was discovered that he had developed green fungus (Aspergillosis) infection in his sinuses, lungs, and blood.”

He added that the patient had recovered from Covid-19 but then “he started having nose bleeds and a high fever. He had also become very weak due to weight loss.”

News agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported that the man’s lungs had been found to be 90 per cent infected.

“During diagnosis, the green fungus was detected in his lungs which is different from mucormycosis or black fungus. This possibly is the first green fungus case in the country,” Apoorva Tiwari, district data manager with the health department in Indore, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Aspergillosis is a fungal infection caused by Aspergillus, a common mould that can be found both indoors and out. Most people can inhale Aspergillus spores without becoming unwell, local reports, quoting experts, said. Although there are 180 species of Aspergillus, only about 40 are known to cause infections in people. The most prevalent cause of human Aspergillus is Aspergillus fumigatus.

Green fungus is the new infection to join the earlier known cases of black, white and yellow fungus. Randeep Guleria, director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, had told the media last month that it was better to use the medical names of these infections rather than by the colour of the fungus to avoid any “confusion.”

“Naming the same fungus based on its colours, depending on the area of infection, creates confusion,” he said.

Meanwhile, green fungus was earlier seen only as a “junior partner” in other infections, Dr Dosi said. In the current patient, this fungus is acting as the aggressor. He had battled Covid-19 for the last one and a half months.

According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), allergic reactions, lung infections and infections in other organs are among the types of health problems caused by Aspergillus. However, Aspergillosis is not contagious and can’t spread between people or between people and animals from the lungs.

CDC noted that “people with weakened immune systems or lung diseases are at a higher risk of developing health problems due to Aspergillus. The types of health problems caused by Aspergillus include allergic reactions, lung infections, and infections in other organs.”

Meanwhile, in Maharashtra, the number of black fungus or mucormycosis reached 7395 on Sunday, as per the state health department data. Several states in the country — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu — have declared mucormycosis a “notifiable” diseases under the country’s Epidemic Diseases Act.

Till earlier this month, at least 28,000 cases of black fungus were reported in the country.

On 15 June, The BJP government announced that the government was facilitating the “smooth supply” of the drug Amphotericin to combat black fungus.”