What is the mold that closely follows the new coronavirus? Does eating curd milk eat mucormycetes?

According to the "News Hyperlink" of the Voice of China of the Central Radio and Television Corporation, recently, according to foreign media reports, a pathogenic fungal infection disease - mucormycosis has spread in many places in India, and most of the patients are new crown patients who are in the recovery period. Currently, multiple patients have died.

Mucormycetes are actually a type of fungus that is widely present in nature, and there are mucormycete fungi on soil, air, feces, food and all moldy materials.

However, people like Lactobacillus humus and mucormycetes are actually the most commonly used mucormycete species of lactophyllum, which are used in the field of food production.

So, which mucormycetes can cause disease? Mucormycetes are widespread, why is mucormycosis rarely heard of? Why don't most people get sick because of it? Mucormyces are used to make curd milk, so why eat curd milk without getting mucormycosis?

What causes mucormycosis?

Mucormycosis was first recognized in 1855. At that time, a German patient reported the first case of mucormycosis, a case of lung cancer patients with mucormycete infection. Since then, there have been reports of various types of mucormycosis cases.

What causes mucormycosis?

Ouyang Haomiao, an assistant researcher at the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced that mucormycetes belong to fungi, and the "mucormycete" usually referred to does not refer to a single fungus, but refers to a large group of fungi. At the same time, although they all use a name, not all mucormycetes can cause disease.

Common pathogens of Mucormycetes include rhizobium, Mucormycetes, and Ploughweed mold in the Family Mucormycetes. Among them, rhizome mold is the most common pathogen that causes human mucormycosis. In the genus Rhizome, Mycobacterium, Microsporum, and Umbellifera are the most well-defined and common strains of Mucormycete infection.

Mucormycetes are so common, why is mucormycosis uncommon?

Ouyang Haomiao said that similar to other fungal infections, mucormycosis is a serious opportunistic infection caused by mucormycosis, opportunistic infection is that this bacterium does not infect normal human bodies, mainly infecting some immunodeficiency of human beings: "For example, diabetes, blood diseases, malignant tumors, solid organs and bone marrow transplantation, high iron load and deferoxamine treatment patients, is a high-risk group of mucormycete infection." It mainly infects the nose, brain, gastrointestinal tract, skin and other parts of these people. Clinically, the symptoms that can be seen generally include fever, headache, lethargy, blindness and so on. ”

Although these pathogenic bacteria are present in the air, they only infect immunocompromised people, and the infection rate is low. Ouyang Haomiao said that normal people do not have to worry, in fact, when the patient's own underlying disease is very serious, it will be triggered. In addition, because there is no way for mucormycetes to enter the normal, intact skin and blood vessels, spores in the air will only enter when these places are damaged.

Following the new crown virus, is it a "fox fake tiger power"?

When the mucormycete comes with the new crown virus, is it a "fox fake tiger"? Why is the lethality not small?

In this regard, Ouyang Haomiao pointed out that new crown patients are susceptible to infection with fungal spores carried in the air due to reduced immunity caused by virus infection, including aspergillus fumigatus, mucormycosis, etc. that have been reported: "When the new crown is combined with mucormycosis, the mucormycete infection causes symptoms such as fever, cough and chest pain. Because these symptoms are similar to the symptoms of COVID-19, they are not easy to detect. This will lead to the early diagnosis will lag behind, delaying the timing of treatment. There is no clinical specificity. Moreover, the diagnosis by serological means is not very reliable now, so it is not very easy to confirm the diagnosis. ”

Nowadays, with the development of modern scientific diagnostic technology, the gradual optimization of clinical diagnostic methods, and the advent of new antifungal drugs, human understanding of mucormycetes is deepening.

Does eating curd milk eat mucormycetes?

Not all of the mold causes disease, in fact, there are some fungi in the mold that are beneficial to humans and play a major role in our lives. For example, the curd milk that is often eaten depends on it.

Wutong bridge mucormycetes, muzzle mold, mullus syndicum, elegant radial mucormycetes, etc., these mucormycetes are the most commonly used mucormycete species of bacterium in China.

Ouyang Haomiao introduced that the function of these mucormycetes is to produce a variety of proteases to help decompose raw materials such as soybean protein, and at the same time, it plays an important role in the color and flavor of curd milk. In addition, because the mucormycete hyphae are dense and sticky, they can help the curd milk retain its shape and form a skin film. Therefore, at present, Mucormyces is the largest and most widely used production strain in China's curd production and coverage, accounting for about 90% to 95% of the saprophyte species.

So, will eating curd milk eat mucormycete? Is there a risk of getting mucormycosis?

Ouyang Haomiao said that he would eat it, but did not have to worry about mucormycosis: "Mucormycetes is cultivated with soybeans, so it contains mucormycetes. At the same time, the viscous skin membrane on the curd milk is also directly formed by the hyphae of mucormycosis, which will enter the body together when eaten. However, I think it doesn't matter. Because, this mucormycete is a beneficial bacterium, not a pathogenic species. In addition, the human body has its own immune system, and some enzymes carried by the digestive system can resist some bacteria and fungi. ”

Producer: Liang Yue

Reporter: Liu Fei, a reporter from the Central Broadcasting Corporation of the Taiwan General Administration

Editor: Yang Yang