AIIMS-Bhubaneswar Researchers Discover New Fungus Causing Mucormycosis In Odisha Man

Bhubaneswar: Researchers at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar have discovered a new fungus reportedly causing mucormycosis.

Associate Professor of Microbiology Vinaykumar Hallur tweeted: Cunninghamella arunalokei is a new species of Cunninghamella from India causing disease in an immunocompetent individual.

The study has been published in the Journal of Fungi. He along with five other researchers from the premier medical institute in the city capital was part of the nine-member study team. They are Rabindra Senapati and Prashanth Purushotham from the Department of Microbiology; Nerbadyswari Deep Bag from Department of Radiodiagnosis; Mukund Sable from Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Chappity Preetam, ENT and Head and Neck Surgery.

Infections due to Cunninghamella species are relatively rare in India in comparison to other countries.

“Cunninghamella species rarely cause invasive mucormycosis, and the infections had been described predominantly in immunocompromised patients. Isolation of Cunninghamella species in an immunocompetent host is extremely rare, and to date, only three cases have been described. In the present study, we report the discovery of novel fungus in a case of invasive rhino-orbito-cerebral mucormycosis in an apparently immunocompetent patient. The patient presented with recurrent disease despite repeated surgical debridement and courses of antifungal therapy. Further, the possibility of increased virulence of the pathogen cannot be ruled out,” the study said.

Cunninghamella arunalokei was isolated from a 26-year-old immunocompetent patient from Odisha with recurrent chronic invasive mucormycosis. He had erythema, induration, and superficial ulceration with crusting on the left dorsum of the nose and swelling in the left mid-half of the face. “The isolate was clinically significant as evidenced by histopathology, and isolation from biopsy sample. Our findings are unique as Cunninghamella rarely causes mucormycosis in immunocompetent individuals and phylogenetic analysis confirmed that it is a new species. It was named Cunninghamella arunalokei in the honor of Prof. Arunaloke Chakrabarti a leading clinical mycologist from India,” the study added.

Mucormycosis, which has an overall mortality rate of 50%, is well known to infect patients with diabetes mellitus, malignancy, chemotherapy, and other immunocompromised conditions. It was seen in COVID-19 patients, possibly triggered by the use of steroids.