Antifungal Drugs, Systemic Health Article

Definition

Systemic antifungal drugs are medicines taken by mouth or by injection to treat deep infections caused by a fungus.

Purpose

Systemic antifungal drugs are used to treat infections in various parts of the body that are caused by a fungus. A fungus is an organism that can be either onecelled or filamentous. Unlike a plant, which makes its own food, or an animal, which eats plants or other animals, a fungus survives by invading and living off other living things. Fungi thrive in moist, dark places, including some parts of the body.

Fungal infections can either be systemic, meaning that the infection is deep, or topical (dermatophytic), meaning that the infection is superficial and occurs on the skin. Additionally, yeast infections can affect the mucous membranes of the body. Fungal infections on the skin are usually treated with creams or ointments (topical antifungal drugs). However, systemic infections, yeast infections or topical infections that do not clear up after treatment with creams or ointments may need to be treated with systemic antifungal drugs. These drugs are used, for example, to treat common fungal infections such as tinea (ring-worm), which occurs on the skin or candidiasis (a yeast infection, also known as trush), which can occur in the throat, in the vagina, or in other parts of the body. They are also used to treat other deep fungal infections such as histoplasmosis, blastomycosis, and aspergillosis, which can affect the lungs and other organs. They are sometimes used to prevent or treat fungal infections in people whose immune systems are weakened, such as bone marrow or organ transplant patients and people with AIDS.

Description

Antifungal drugs are categorized depending on their route or site of action, their mechanism of action and their chemical nature.

Systemic antifungal drugs, such as capsofungin (Cancidas), flucytosine, fluconazole (Diflucan), itraconazole (Sporanox), ketoconazole (Nizoral), and miconazole (Monistat I.V.) are available only by prescription. They are available in tablet, capsule, liquid, and injectable forms.