Antifungal Drugs

Antifungal drugs work by damaging the cell wall of the fungus, causing the fungal cells to die. These drugs come in many forms, like creams, sprays, solutions, tablets, shampoos, syrups, and injections. These antifungal medications work either by killing the fungal cells or by stopping them from growing and multiplying.

No. Antifungal medicines are different from antibiotics. Antibiotics are antibacterial medicines and they do not kill fungi. Antibiotics kill other types of germs called bacteria, while antifungal drugs kill fungi.

No life-threatening side-effects to antifungal medication have been recorded, but minor side-effects might include, itching, burning or redness, stomach ache, loss of appetite, nausea, diarrhea, headache and muscle or joint pains.

Antifungal drugs are effective in treating fungal infections like, athlete’s foot, jock itch and ringworm, dandruff, fingernail infection or toenail fungus, thrush and esophageal candidiasis, vaginitis and vaginal yeast infection.

Based on the severity of the condition, antifungal drugs can be taken orally, applied topically, as injection, or administered intravenously through an IV drip.

On a broader level there are four main types of antifungal drugs which are polyenes, azoles, allylamines, and echinocandins.

Based on the severity of the condition some fungal infections clear up in a few weeks. Others may need months of treatment. For instance fungal skin infections like athlete's foot or ringworm take 2 to 6 weeks of treatment. Certain fungal infections like those of nails usually require a couple of months of treatment. Meanwhile, more serious conditions can only be decided by the doctor overseeing and treating the infection.

The most common fungal infections in human that easily curable are: Ringworm, Oral thrush, Vaginal yeast infection, vaginitis, Onychomycosis, Coccidioidomycosis, athlete’s foot, jock itch, dandruff, fingernail infection or toenail fungus, and esophageal candidiasis.

There are several fungal infections that affect people severally and weaken their immune systems. Some of the more serious infections that fungi can cause include: aspergillosis, blastomycosis, cryptococcus gattii infection, fungal meningitis, fungal pneumonia, histoplasmosis, mucormycosis, paracoccidioidomycosis, and talaromycosis. These are very rare fungal infections, but can be a lot more serious.