1 / 10Amid a rise in black fungus cases particularly in COVID patients in Delhi, some medical experts feel that 'unhygienic masks' and poorly ventilated rooms could be a contributing factor, while others said 'no clinical evidence' has been established linking the two.2 / 10Doctors at many leading hospitals here said many patients, both COVID and non-COVID ones, have presented themselves at the facilities who have been infected with mucormycosis or black fungus and had a history of exhibiting poor hygienic practices, including wearing unwashed masks for a long time.3 / 10According to Dr Suresh Singh Naruka, senior consultant, ENT, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, the primary factor is 'irrational use of steroids'.4 / 10'Second, I would reckon is unhygienic practices, like wearing masks over a long time without washing them, or staying in a poorly ventilated rooms such as a basement, or less airy rooms. So, I would say, the second factor is also a trigger point for contractor mucormycosis,' he said.5 / 10Mucormycosis is more common among people whose immunity has lowered due to COVID, diabetes, kidney disease, liver or cardiac disorders, age-related issues, or those on medication for auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.6 / 10'If such patients are administered steroids, their immunity reduces further, allowing the fungus to thrive,' the doctor said, adding, steroids should be administered very judiciously after proper clinical examination by a doctor.7 / 10'In many cases, we also found that people who had contracted black fungus had self-medicated themselves on steroids, after their oxygen concentration levels had dropped, making them susceptible to this ailment which is being found more in COVID patients under treatment or recovery than others,' Naruka said8 / 10The Apollo doctor said earlier, during pre-COVID days, he was seeing one case on an average per month, which has now jumped to '2-3 black fungus patients per day', adding that some of them have also suffered from facial palsy and hearing loss.9 / 10Dr Ajay Swaroop, chairman of the ENT department at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here, said, mucors live in every human body along our nasal passage and nasopharyngeal region 'symbiotically'.10 / 10'It is when a person's immunity is lowered, as in the case of COVID, that these mucors start growing and cause infection. The red flags are nasal discharge with blood stains, swelling in nose of eye,' he said. Asked if unhygienic masks could trigger black fungus, he said, 'There is no clinical evidence yet, to establish the link between the two'.