Question: Which of the following statement regarding White fungus disease, which has been in news recently are true?
i) Cases of white fungus have been reported in the city of Patna, Bihar recently.
ii) White fungus aka Aspergillosis is an infection caused by Aspergillus, a common mold (a type of fungus).
iii) Like the black fungus (mucormycosis), white fungus also affects drastically those who have poor level of immunity.
a) i
b)ii,iii
c) all of the above
d) none of the above
Ans: c
Context
- Four cases of white fungus disease aka Aspergillosis have been identified in Patna, Bihar recently.
Facts
About White fungus (Aspergillosis)
- Aspergillosis is an infection caused by Aspergillus, a common mold (a type of fungus) that lives indoors and outdoors.
- Most people breathe Aspergillus spores every day without getting sick. Only those people with weak immune response gets affected drastically by the fungus.
- The types of health problems caused by Aspergillus include allergic reactions, lung infections, and infections in other organs. Its symptoms are quite similar to Covid symptoms, making it difficult to differentiate from Covid infection.
- The different types of Aspergillosis can cause different symptoms.
- The symptoms of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) (Mostly affects asthma paitents) are similar to asthma symptoms, including:
- Wheezing
- Shortness of breath
- Cough
- Fever (in rare cases)
- Symptoms of allergic Aspergillus sinusitis include:
- Stuffiness
- Runny nose
- Headache
- Reduced ability to smell
- Symptoms of an aspergilloma (“fungus ball”)(mostly to those people who have tuberculosis) include:
- Cough
- Coughing up blood
- Shortness of breath
- Symptoms of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (mostly affects people with lung diseases including tuberculosis) include:
- Weight loss
- Cough
- Coughing up blood
- Fatigue
- Shortness of breath
- Fever is a common symptom of invasive aspergillosis.
- Invasive aspergillosis usually occurs in people who are already sick from other medical conditions, so it can be difficult to know which symptoms are related to an Aspergillus infection. However, the symptoms of invasive aspergillosis in the lungs include:
- Fever
- Chest pain
- Cough
- Coughing up blood
- Shortness of breath
- Other symptoms can develop if the infection spreads from the lungs to other parts of the body.
By kameshwar shukla
Reference: https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/diseases/aspergillosis/symptoms.html
https://www.indiatvnews.com/health/white-fungus-black-fungus-difference-in-symptoms-early-detection-and-prevention-706069