Diagnostic approach for post-COVID-19 mucormycosis.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in India, continues to pose a major threat to public health owing to the large number of patients that remain affected. The second wave of COVID-19 has brought with it several opportunistic diseases caused by bacteria and fungi, including mucormycosis, which is a well-known fungal infection primarily encountered in immunocompromised individuals through inhalation. In recent times, mucormycosis has become increasingly common in COVID-19 patients, particularly those with comorbidities such as diabetes, and has been observed to induce secondary infections as it spreads with COVID-19 treatment. Despite its importance, mucormycosis is still poorly studied due to the current priority given to research on treatments, vaccines, and diagnostics. To address this knowledge gap, this study aims to investigate the correlation between mucormycosis and COVID-19 patients and elucidate the molecular mechanism of mucormycosis to improve our understanding of fungal infections in patients who have recently contracted SARS-CoV-2.