Diagnosis and intervention as early as possible is important. This includes control of blood sugar, urgent removal of dead tissue, and antifungal drug treatment.
But unfortunately, many infections will be diagnosed late and access to treatment is limited. This was the case in India prior to Covid-19 and the current demands on the health system will only make things worse.
Controlling these fungal infections will require increased awareness, better tests to diagnose them early, along with a focus on controlling diabetes and using corticosteroids wisely. Patients will need access to timely surgery and antifungal treatment. But there also needs to be more research into prevention of these infections.
* Monica Slavin is an expert in lung infections at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and head of the department of infectious diseases at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia.
* Karin Thursky is a professor of microbiology at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, in Melbourne, Australia and director of the National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship.
This article originally appeared on The Conversation, and is republished under a Creative Commons licence.
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