Averting Crippling Fungal Super-Infection in Era of Viral Pandemic: A Case-Control Retrospective Evidence-Based Study

The second wave of COVID-19 has affected India substantially, with the highest number of daily cases reaching 0.4 million in a single day. COVID-19 infection, its treatment, resultant immune suppression, and pre-existing co-morbidities have made patients vulnerable to secondary infections including mucormycosis. Nasal irrigation is an ancient and well-practiced treatment for nasal and sinus pathologies. It has been proved that Mucorales live as commensals in nasal epithelium and a drop in immunity leads to its super-infection. This practice of nasal douching reduces its survival and washes out the spores from the nasal cavity. The study aims to prove that practicing Nasal Irrigation with prescribed medications reduces the incidence and severity of Mucormycosis. 110 patients who reported with Post-Covid sinusitis were selected for the study. History of Covid-19 infection was taken. Pre-treatment KOH and culture were advised. Also, pre-treatment radiological analysis was done to assess the severity of involvement. According to the guidelines, antibiotic, antifungal, decongestant, anti-inflammatory, and antacid drugs were prescribed. Along with this, nasal irrigation of buffered saline solution, povidone-iodine, and 2% acetic acid was prescribed to alleviate the symptoms or to prevent them all together. Post-treatment culture and radiological analysis were carried out if symptoms persisted. Collected data underwent Chi-square test. The P-value of the study was kept at less than 0.05 according to the sample size. The study revealed a significant decrease in the incidence and severity of symptoms of mucormycosis. This study concludes that Nasal Irrigation has an important role in the prevention of crippling Mucormycosis in Post-Covid patients with initial symptoms of sinusitis. © 2022. Journal of International Dental and Medical Research.All Rights Reserved