Iraq detects five cases of the deadly “black fungus” among coronavirus patients

One person died and four others are hospitalized in Iraq after suffering from mucormycosis, a source from the health area announced on Tuesday, explaining that they contracted this disease known as “black fungus” after suffering from coronavirus (covid-19).

“A 51-year-old religious died and four other people are currently being treated in the hospital, all of them infected by the ‘black fungus’, a consequence of covid-19,” said this source from Nasiriya (southern Iraq).

The spokesman for the Baghdad Health Ministry, Saif al Badr, confirmed the death and the hospitalizations to AFP, without providing further details.

Iraq has registered more than 1.2 million cases of infections by covid-19, a disease that has caused 16,375 deaths in the country.

The mucormicosis is a fungal infection that can be fatal for some patients. It affects the sinuses, brain, lungs, and eyes.

For specialists, this rapid spread of fungal infection is largely attributed to the uncontrolled use of corticosteroids in the treatment of patients with coronavirus.

The exaggerated use of these drugs or their consumption by people whose immune system is weakened by the disease, increases the risk of infection by this fungus.

In addition, specialists point out certain environmental causes that favor the proliferation of the ‘black fungus’ and the multiplication of infections, such as contaminated water in oxygen tubes or humidifiers.