The World Health Organization (WHO) has released the rankings of fungi, which are perilous for human health, and has drawn people’s attention towards the microscopic organisms which are seldom paid attention to. These have spread at a large scale, are fatal, and are treatment-resistant. The WHO has made a list of 19 fungal infections, out of which 4 have been categorized as extremely serious.
Every year, globally, more than 50 lakh people lose their lives due to fungal infections, out of which many deaths occur among people who suffer from HIV, cancer, TB, and other severe illnesses as such people are more vulnerable to the infections.
Health officials state that the number of deaths taking place because of fungal infections can actually be much more as, especially in poor countries, many hospitals and clinics do not have the facilities to detect them.
Dr Carmem Pessoa-Silva of the WHO has said that we do not yet know the severity of the situation, and environmental changes have expanded the geographical range of certain infections. Fungal infection cases have also increased due to the COVID-19 spread. Many COVID-19 patients who were admitted in the ICU had contracted fungi like the Candida Auris, which enter the human body through oxygen tubes and intra-venous lines. In India too, the novel but severe infection of Mucor mycosis affected thousands of COVID-19 patients, which is also known as the black fungus infection.
Many patients had had to go through surgeries which deteriorated their faces, in order to get rid of the infection and the fungus.
