Talk:Mucormycosis

Jargon
We obviously can't remove the jargon in an article like this, but I think we could explain some of it, especially in the lead. Maybe "hyphae (long branching filaments)"? Also since the common meaning of "vessel" includes such things as pint beer glasses, that should be explained. "Maxilla" could easily be explained. See, for example, how "erythemic" has a short non-jargon definition in the text. Kendall-K1 (talk) 12:18, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

Suggestion to add a link to mucormycosis clinical cases

 * Mucormycosis cases in FungiQuest

I suggest to add a web link to your mucormycosis page to allow readers to see clinical cases of this fungal infection. The website www.fungiquest.net, but the user can look with deep-linking directly to the respective fungus cases. The cases come from Fungiscope, an international study on rare invasive fungal infection internationally recognized and endorsed by all leading scientific societies in the field of medical mycology including ISHAM (International Society of Human and Animal Mycology), ESCMID (European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease) and ECMM (European Conference on Medical Mycology).

This link would add valuable information to your mucormycosis page. Thank you for your consideration. LuisaDG (talk) 08:42, 27 May 2015 (UTC)
 * Not seeing anything useful there. Doc James  (talk · contribs · email) 11:01, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

i have clear images of this disease...i would like to share Sanjaysuguthan8 (talk) 10:50, 22 May 2021 (UTC)

bbc artilce
Mucormycosis in india https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57027829

Merger proposal
I recommend merging Black fungus (COVID-19_condition) into this article. No need for separate articles describing a predisposing factor for this condition. Feel free to discuss? Tophercfh (talk) 23:17, 21 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Comment: This is the sort of proposal that I would normally want to support. However, given the clinical and epidemiological topicality of the subject of the page (and the interest currently being shown by news media) I wonder whether it might be better to wait a bit before making a decision so as to prevent the main Mucormycosis page being potentially overwhelmed with content focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic (including possible running updates). Just my 2c, 86.186.155.163 (talk) 12:28, 22 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Why would it be better for article X to be "overwhelmed" with updates rather than article Y? Given the short length of both articles despite extensive media coverage, this seems unlikely to happen in any event. -- Beland (talk) 22:09, 28 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Disagree with merger: I agree with the above sentiment by 86.186.155.163. Scran4d (talk) 16:28, 22 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Support merge. If the main page begins getting overwhelmed, that's a sign that we are not properly observing due weight. There is literally nothing different about mucormycosis in COVID-19 than in patients prior to the pandemic - it does not need a separate article, and it is virtually certain to never need one - as there's barely two sentences of information in the split article that aren't duplicating other content already in this one. -bɜ:ʳkənhɪmez (User/say hi!) 21:16, 22 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Support merge Disease is same so no need for separate article. I am infavour of creating separate article such as Mucormycosis epidemic during COVID-19 pandemic where epidemiological info related to COVID-19 related Mucormycosis can be added. Nizil (talk) 04:09, 23 May 2021 (UTC)
 * That would seem to me a good idea. (Anything declared an 'epidemic' will inevitably generate considerable epidemiological interest, both in the news media and the scientific literature.) 86.186.120.165 (talk) 10:50, 23 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Agree with Nizil. Whispyhistory (talk) 17:38, 26 May 2021 (UTC)


 * Oppose but uncertain I am not a medical authority, and I do not understand this medical condition, but Wikipedia relies on information from published sources. In my view the available sources including the expert medical publications are all short on information of what this is, which is why I am uncertain in my opposition. "Mucormycosis" is a set of symptoms and "black fungus" is the name of one of the diseases which cause particular symptoms from that set. There are various species of fungus which can cause the symptoms, and those fungi can cause infections in various body locations. I am unclear what is happening here, but the way most of the sources are describing this condition, it seems like the symptoms are following a pattern. Consequently, that might mean this disease is not any of several fungi causing the full set of possible mucormycosis symptoms, but instead might be particular fungus causing a particular infection with particular symptoms. If "black fungus" is then a specific type of "mucormycosis" and gets its own description, then I think it is a stand alone topic. The situation is still early but these early sources, which may be sensational and premature, seem to treat this as its own condition.  Blue Rasberry   (talk)  22:00, 23 May 2021 (UTC)
 * I don't think there is a symptom/disease distinction between mucormycosis and black fungus; they are both diseases. And in fact they are the same disease. Lots of things that cause immune system suppression can predispose people to contract it, and COVID-19 just happens to be one of them. -- Beland (talk) 22:09, 28 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Check what I have taken from the "mucormycosis" article and can you please confirm that you really mean "I don't think there is a symptom/disease distinction between mucormycosis and black fungus"
 * "mucormycosis is classified into six types according to the part of the body affected" - black fungus is only sinus, so all the information about the other 5 infections does not apply for black fungus
 * "Most fatal infections are caused by Rhizopus oryzae." - I find no source anywhere naming the species of black fungus
 * "can be found on for instance moldy bread and fruit" - I have not seen this said of black fungus
 * "Risk factors Predisposing factors for mucormycosis include..." the factors here are different from black fungus, where for risk factors I see COVID, diabetes, steroids, and contaminated medical equipment
 * "Diagnosis requires ... biopsy ... fungal culture" I am not seeing this kind of subtlety in black fungus diagnosis
 * "Imaging is often performed, such as CT scan " - I am not seeing this for black fungus
 * "Other possible diagnoses include anthrax, cellulitis, bowel obstruction..." - not seeing this confusion for black fungus
 * "Preventive measures include wearing a face mask in dusty areas..." - people in India are wearing masks and I am not seeing sources recommending more or better masks for India
 * "Causative fungi are highly dependant on location." Mucormycosis article mentions lots of fungi species and we have no sources on which one is black fungus
 * I can tolerate a merge that black fungus is one of the types of mucormycosis, but I feel it would be a great error to merge information to communicate that the many characteristics of the many types of mucormycosis apply to its one form of black fungus. If there is a content merge I would like to preserve the distinction of what we know is different about black fungus, which seems to be a lot of this.  Blue Rasberry   (talk)  23:42, 30 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Yes, I mean what I wrote. I don't see any sources that say "black fungus is a symptom of mucormycosis" or "mucormycosis is a symptom of black fungus". The CDC lists common symptoms of rhinocerebral mucormycosis as "unilateral facial swelling, headaches, nasal or sinus congestion or pain, serosanguinous nasal discharge, and fever". These are likewise symptoms of black fungus, which is a disease, not a symptom.
 * Black fungus (COVID-19 condition) does cite a source saying that "black fungus" is rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis. Using a Google News search, I can't find any instances of this term being used to refer to mucormycosis before COVID-19. So unless anyone comes across sources that say that "black fungus" is now also being used to refer to the other 5 types of mucormycosis, we can assume as you say it only refers to that one type. And yes, we would certainly expect the risk factors, symptoms, and treatments to be different depending on which part of the body is infected. That CDC page certainly indicates different underlying diseases as risk factors for infection of different body parts. The rest of what you say about not seeing certain things associated with black fungus seems like original research, and I doubt it is entirely accurate. For example, I would be very surprised if a surgeon about to remove someone's eye to deal with a severe case of black fungus didn't perform some sort of body imaging to determine the extent of infection, but I also wouldn't necessarily expect that specific detail to be reported in non-medical sources like news media. Though yeah, no one's going to misdiagnose an eye infection as being caused by a bowel obstruction. I do see sources recommending mask wearing in certain settings to reduce the risk of ROC mucormycosis/black fungus  but other sources focus on maintaining immune system health by avoiding steroid overuse and blood sugar maintenance in people with diabetes, and still others point out that not washing a mask worn to protect against COVID-19 could increase the risk of ROC mucormycosis/black fungus infection. And this one covers all of those.
 * Rhinocerebral mucormycosis was already one of the most common forms of mucormycosis, and so far hasn't needed its own article given the level of specific detail we write about it. We didn't make separate articles about previous outbreaks of this disease. Black fungus (COVID-19 condition) has less than 2kB of readable prose - five paragraphs - which describe the current outbreak and which will fit into the already existing section "". -- Beland (talk) 01:05, 31 May 2021 (UTC)


 * Support Merge. While I can understand why there is a slight difference between these two, there isn't enough of a distinction to warrant a separate page, and there should instead be a section on this main page with it in regards to COVID-19, or as Nizil said, perhaps even creating a separate article if that becomes necessary down the line. Redirecting 'Black fungus' with COVID-19 to this page would seem appropriate considering that this is by far the most publicity this infection has received in years.Larcondos (talk) 16:14, 24 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Support Merge. There is not enough to warrant a separate page. Let alone a page that simply renames mucormycosis. Black fungus should simply redirect to Mucormycosis.
 * Oppose Merge. There is a need for this rise in cases of mucormycosis in India to be covered by a page that links it to COVID-19 (or the treatment of/complications in recovered patients), as this rise appears to be intrinsic to the treatment of COVID-19. The equivalent French Wikipedia page for Lineage B.1.617 fr:Variant B.1.617 mentions "champignon noir". There is also an issue of geographical proximity of the greater number of cases of mucormycosis occurring in (or near) the very same area that Lineage B.1.617 is accepted to have emerged, i.e. in (Maharashtra). I expect these 'associations' to develop and become clearer over the coming months. SpookiePuppy (talk) 00:39, 25 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Strong support. Unless there is a ton of information, a separate article isn't needed. Make it a subsection. aeschylus (talk) 01:35, 25 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Support - these are two names for exactly the same thing. The COVID-associated outbreak article is short enough to just be a section of the main article. The current surge is likely to drive the epidemiology data in the main article for recent and upcoming years, so a split will make things rather awkward to explain. It does not seem to be growing quickly, but if it needs a separate article because it someday gets 3-4 times as long as it currently is, "Black fungus (COVID-19 condition)" is definitely the wrong title. In the meantime, having two different articles makes it harder for readers to get relevant info. -- Beland (talk) 22:15, 28 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Weak support Have to agree with Nizil here. extra 999  ( talk ) 07:41, 29 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Strong Oppose. There have been almost 12,000 cases of the infection in India in recent days. I recommend to move it from Black fungus (COVID-19_condition) to Mucormycosis epidemic of 2021. I am using it in Did you know nominations - Nilima Arun Kshirsagar. Yes rewriting is needed.--. Shlok talk. 04:08, 31 May 2021 (UTC)

Trimmed content
Trimmed some recent news content, including some OT: This fungal infection was recently reported across many states in India causing panic to the general public. Kerala, a state in India recently reported new cases of this infection. Currently, 9 new cases are under treatment. Another shocking news was reported recently, a fungal infection called White fungus has also been reported in some parts of India, which is more dangerous than Black fungus. 86.186.155.163 (talk) 12:36, 22 May 2021 (UTC)

"Black fungus"
Please provide decent medical or scientific sources, why this fungii is called "black fungus" and is even labeled "informally referred to". The news is already around the world and the BBC source is also just calling it that way without further information or citation. I could search the PubMeds etc. but I won't. Authors should take lead and care of clarity and quality. I look forward seeing the sources and knowing this fungii is "black". First sentence state "Mucormycosis is any fungal infection caused" - so ANY FUNGAL INFECTION suddenly becomes BLACK FUGUS, which is specific, which is a deadly? fugus triggered by COVID-19, if this is so? What is known about this problem? KR 17387349L8764 (talk) 19:25, 22 May 2021 (UTC)


 * And what about a completely different "Black fungus (Auricularia auricula) is one of the four most important cultivated edible fungi in the world" https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jfq/2019/9590251/ GregZak (talk) 08:19, 9 November 2023 (UTC)

Add. The following source https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(19)30312-3/fulltext provides images of the disease, which make it clear what „black“ means, however doesn‘t informally name it like that and calls it „rare“. KR 17387349L8764 (talk) 20:39, 22 May 2021 (UTC)


 * Thank you for this 17387349L8764. Please see WP:BMI under "Etymology and definitions" - non-biomedical information (per Wikipedia's definitions) such as this lexical content only needs to meet WP:RS (rather than the more demanding "reliable medical sourcing" guideline, WP:MEDRS). 86.186.155.163 (talk) 21:01, 22 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Ok Thank you 86.xxx, well, also searching https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=&#x22;black+fungus&#x22; the term is rather used for flies, see http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7448.html - So meeting WP:RS is enough in this situation and henceforth the BBC citation is enough? KR 17387349L8764 (talk) 09:43, 23 May 2021 (UTC)
 * 17387349L8764, yes, that's my understanding at least. 86.186.120.165 (talk) 10:22, 23 May 2021 (UTC)
 * I just saw this but I agree that what something is called by "lay people" is not MEDRS requiring, and even if lay people are being technically incorrect in the real world, that's still due weight to include. -bɜ:ʳkənhɪmez (User/say hi!) 02:19, 4 June 2021 (UTC)

Squeamy image
I have replaced the squeamy image of an infected patient with a more suitable biopsy image. CutePeach (talk) 05:43, 13 July 2021 (UTC)

Mucormycosis
It (mucormycosis) also spread to their children while immunocompressed people have sex to each other 124.123.167.227 (talk) 14:39, 9 November 2022 (UTC)