A 34-year-old Indian COVID-19 patient was confirmed as having been infected with “green fungus” amid thousands of “black fungus” infections in the country, but Chinese experts reassured the public that unlike a virus, fungus infections won’t spread among healthy people and in clean environments.
The man, who survived an almost 100-percent infection in his lungs, has been diagnosed with India’s first-known case of “green fungus” and was airlifted to a hospital in Mumbai for treatment, the Economic Times reported Thursday.
So far, India has reported cases of black, white and yellow fungus in different regions.
As the latest flare-up in South China’s Guangdong Province that caused suspension of some inter-provincial transportation was found to have been connected to the virus strain first discovered and most prevalent in India, Chinese people expressed concerns that the green fungus might also spread across the border.
Yang Zhanqiu, a virologist from Wuhan University, told the Global Times on Friday that people with weak immunity are more likely to be infected by bacteria and fungus, which usually impact the spleen or lungs. But Chinese people do not need to worry about its spread as such infections need certain conditions that are much more demanding than virus contagion.
Such an infection is usually occasional and is unlikely to spread from one patient to another, Yang said.
Experts said unclean environments facilitate the growth of fungus and people with weak immunity could possibly inhale it. Another possibility is fungal infection in other organs being transferred to the lungs.
Some hypotheses were that dirty oxygen cylinders and ventilators could have caused the spread of fungus infections in India, as many of the infected are also COVID-19 patients.
An Indian hospital staff checks oxygen cylinders inside a hospital in Srinaga on April 25, 2021. Photo: AP
