Introduction:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has infected >180
million people globally and over 3 million in Iran (1). SARS-CoV-2
causing COVID-19, can lead to severe infections among patients who have
underlying health conditions (2).
It is suggested that SARS-CoV-2 might enhance susceptibility to
pulmonary fungal coinfections (3).
Mucormycosis is an angioinvasive disease caused by a fungi of the order
Mucorales like Rhizopus, Mucor, Rhizomucor, Cunninghamella and Absidia
(4).
In Iran prevalence of mucormycosis for the last six years has been 29.7
cases/year (5). Mucormycosis is a rare infection with high mortality
rate (20-100%). Immunocompromised patients such as the ones with
hematological malignancies, recipients of hematopoietic stem cell
(HSCT), patients with diabetes mellitus and ketoacidosis are susceptible
to highly fatal mucormycosis infection (6, 7).
While super-infections and co-infections in COVID-19 pneumonia are still
under investigation, sporadic reports of mucormycosis in COVID-19
patients have been published.
Herein, we present a case of severe COVID-19 with multiple underlying
health conditions who was co-infected with rhino-orbital mucormycosis.