Internal medicine

Disease

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Complication

Surgery

Intensive care medicine

Immunology

Mucormycosis

Coronavirus

Viral disease

Opportunistic infection

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

Medicine

Infection

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection might induce a significant and sustained lymphopenia, increasing the risk of developing opportunistic infections. Mucormycosis is a rare but severe invasive fungal infection, mainly described in immunocompromised patients. The first case of a patient diagnosed with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) who developed a pulmonary mucormycosis with extensive cavitary lesions is here reported. This case highlights how this new coronavirus might impair the immune response, exposing patients to higher risk of developing opportunistic infections and leading to worse outcomes.

A challenging complication following SARS-CoV-2 infection: a case of pulmonary mucormycosis