Predictors for mucormycosis in COVID era: A case-control study from Gujarat

CONTEXT: Mucormycosis has been increasingly described in the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) era, however, there is a lack of robust epidemiological studies to understand the predictors for the development of mucormycosis from India. AIMS: To document the risk factors of mucormycosis with or without COVID-19 and estimate the strength of association of various risk factors. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A case-control study was conducted in the Ahmedabad districts of Gujarat from June to August 2021. METHODS AND MATERIAL: One hundred participants (25 cases with mucor, 75 without mucor) were enrolled in the study. The cases and controls were then matched based on age and gender. Ethical approval was sought from the Institutional Ethics Committee of the Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar, Gujrat, India. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were collected using the Epi Collect 5 application, and the descriptive, inferential analysis was done using the SPSS version 21 statistical software. RESULTS: About 68% of the cases were from a rural area and had past comorbidity conditions. About 80% of the cases reported a previous history of COVID-19, whereas 67% of the controls reported the same. The factors which remained significant after applying the hierarchical model were rural residents (OR = 3.2 [95% CI: 1.05–10.3]) and history of oxygen therapy (OR = 5.42 [95% CI: 1.24–23.8]). CONCLUSIONS: This study concludes that mucormycosis is independent of the COVID-19 status. Rural residents and oxygen therapy were found to be the most significant risk factors for mucormycosis. The findings of this study are also not conclusive to establish an association; thus, further exploration and in-depth research with larger samples are recommended.