Schizophyllum spp. in Covid-19- A Series of Ten Cases from a Tertiary Care Hospital of Central India.

Background: Schizophyllum species can cause diverse clinical infections like sinusitis, pulmonary disease, ulcerative lesions of the palate, atypical meningitis, cerebral abscess which can occur in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised individuals. Although it is one of the emerging fungi, data on clinical features and outcomes of fungal diseases caused by Schizophyllum spp. in India are currently not sufficient. A failure to exhibit morphological characteristics leads to difficulties in identification, incorrect therapy and decreased frequency of reporting. It is one of the underreported fungal species and the disease load is much higher than reported. Here, we report a series of ten cases where Schizophyllum is isolated as the causative fungal agent. Materials and methods: Nasal scrappings were taken from suspected mucormycosis patients and processed for KOH mount and fungal culture by standard methods. Results: Schizophyllum spp. were isolated from ten suspected patients and majority of them had history of Covid-19, increased blood sugar level and steroid therapy. One of them was a case of T-lymphoid leukaemia under chemotherapy. All the patients were discharged from the hospital after successful treatment. Conclusion: During the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic there was sudden rise of mucormycosis cases in India. This study shows that Schizophyllum spp. can also be a causative fungal agent in post covid patients showing similar signs and symptoms like mucormycosis and can easily be misdiagnosed