Doctors in Ghaziabad were perplexed as they read the endoscopy images of a 45-year-old patient. The patient had contracted three types of fungi—black, white and yellow.
“Yellow fungus is generally found in reptiles. I found this first time in human,’’ news agency ANI quoted Dr B.P. Tyagi, an ENT specialist, as saying.
The first case of yellow fungus was reported on Monday.
Yellow fungus is more fatal than black fungus (Mucormycosis) and can cause internal organ failure, said Dr Rohit Shetty, vice chairman, Narayana Nethralaya, Bengaluru. Mucormycosis typically affects the head-and-neck region. “Yellow fungus also involves the head and neck. But it can go internally and cause organ shutdown very fast, including lung, heart and kidney failure. Yellow fungus produces toxins that cause damage (aflatoxins), lethargy, tiredness, loss of weight, shrunken eyes and swelling,'' explained Shetty.
“Yellow fungus could be any fungus that produce yellow moulds. Most likely, it is Aspergillus Flavus,’’ said Shetty who has a keen interest in genetics. Flavus is the Greek word for yellow.
Each fungus belongs to a certain set of family. Each of these fungi has been given a certain level in the fungus family. Yellow fungus belongs to the Aspergillus family. Identifying the fungus is crucial in treatment, said Shetty. “We should do a proper genetic testing of the fungus before starting treatment. It will help to identify the proper species and label them the right way. That’s the need of the hour.’’ Once the fungi is identified, it could also be easier to ensure the patient doesn’t come in contact with the fungus that causes the infection.
Yellow fungi may appear in food that has been kept outside exposed for a long time. The thermo-tolerant fungus can adapt to different temperatures. Sometimes, they grow in food cereals. If you go to a garden, you’ll see a lot of these fungi growing on trees. You might also see them in parks where the birds have nested. “The fungi look pretty. They spread through spores. Many times, we don’t get the fungal infection by touching or breathing them,'' said Shetty.
Good personal hygiene is critical for avoiding yellow fungus infection. During the pandemic, the entire focus is on saving lives and people tend to compromise on hygiene, which in turn may result in yellow fungus infection, said Shetty.
The case reported in Ghaziabad had all three infections. It is probably related to weak immunity, he said. People with low levels of immunity are particularly susceptible to yellow fungus infection.
Yellow fungus cases can be treated with Amphotericin B injection.
Experts say that there has been a lot of confusion regarding colour coding. Colour coding is not the way the fungus has to be identified, said Shetty. It started with black fungus. The fungus is not black in colour. It causes necrosis or death of tissues, and the tissues will turn black.
The same misnomer is followed up in a bad way into colour coding white and yellow fungus. These fungi secrete toxins, which produce certain colour in affected regions in patients. It doesn’t mean the same colour is shown in the fungus’s body.