Tolerability and safety of antifungal drugs

Authors

  • Francesco Scaglione Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Mediche e Medicina Traslazionale, Università degli Studi di Milano


DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7175/rhc.v4i2S.873

Keywords:

Antifungals, Tolerability, Safety

Abstract

When treating critically ill patients, as those with fungal infections, attention should be focused on the appropriate use of drugs, especially in terms of dose, safety, and tolerability. The fungal infection itself and the concomitant physiological disorders concur to increase the risk of mortality in these patients, therefore the use of any antifungal agent should be carefully evaluated, considering both the direct action on the target fungus and the adverse effects eventually caused. Among antifungal drugs, echinocandins have the greatest tolerability. In fact, unlike amphotericin B, showing nephrotoxicity, and azoles, which are hepatotoxic, the use of echinocandins doesn’t result in major adverse events.

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Published

2013-08-15

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