Oral and pharyngeal candidiasis. Topical agents for management and prevention

Abstract

About half of the general population harbors Candida species in oral flora, and oral candidal infections are common. However, in immunocompromised or immunosuppressed patients, candidiasis may progress to life-threatening systemic disease. Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, HIV disease, diabetes, or leukemia are particularly prone to serious systemic infection. Chemotherapy for cancer and bone marrow and organ transplantation also provide physiologic opportunities for candidal colonization. Topical therapy has the potential to prevent and treat candidiasis with less risk of side effects and drug interactions than systemic therapy. Among the effective topical agents are polyene antifungal antibiotics and imidazole compounds. Some of these agents have been found useful in prevention of serious candidal infection in high-risk patients; however, more study is needed in this area.