Answer to Question #209824 in Microbiology for Erykah Gheil Orsol

Question

what is the oxygen requirement of sporothrix schenckii, Ringworm and Mucormycosis

Answer 1

Sporothrix schenkii: The study of the oxygen uptake by cultures of Sporothrix schenckii as measured with the Clark electrode has shown that when the fungus was grown in a liquid medium, the atmospheric oxygen went into solution very slowly even when the liquid was rapidly stirred. The partial oxygen pressure was very small after some days of culture (no more than 2 or 3% expressed as the saturated value). Hence, it is postulated that the linear part of the growth curve is due to the dissolved oxygen acting as a limiting factor. When the oxygen uptake by filaments, conidia, or yeasts isplotted against the time the curve variations follow the transformations of the fungus.

Ringworm :is a zoonotic fungal infection that can wreak havoc on a shelter. Here is information about how to diagnose, treat and prevent this infectious disease and is rate of oxygen is highly vascularised

Mucormycosis: Of late, several cases of COVID-19-associated mucormycosis (CAM) are being reported worldwide. Although a causal link between COVID-19 and mucormycosis remains unearthed, multiple factors including glucocorticoids, worsening blood glucose control, ketoacidosis, increased serum-free iron (due to hyperferritinemia and acidosis), and viral-induced lymphopenia have been implicated in the pathogenesis of CAM.1

Notably, most of the cases of CAM have been reported from India.2 India, per se, has the highest burden of mucormycosis globally, with an estimated prevalence of 140 cases per million population. Besides, India is home to nearly 77 million people with diabetes; unarguably, diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor for mucormycosis.3 Nevertheless, there has been an unprecedented and alarming upsurge in the number of cases of CAM across several states, as the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rampage in India. Until 19 May 2021, approximately 5500 people were affected with CAM in India, resulting in 126 casualties.4 Subsequently, CAM has been declared an epidemic disease in many states across the country.

Amid this raging cataclysm, it is crucial to reflect on the possible reasons and ways to tide over the additional crisis of the ‘black fungus’. As always, prevention is better than cure. Mucorales are ubiquitous organisms, so adopting certain precautions can help curb the magnitude of the CAM epidemic (box 1). First, the huge number of moderate-to-severe COVID-19 cases in the second wave saw an unforeseen use of ‘industrial oxygen’ to address the lack of oxygen supply chain for medical use. Therefore, proper sanitization and handling of oxygen gas cylinders before hospital/home use is of utmost importance.It needs oxygen for adequate rate of metabolic activities