Fungal infections remain an important cause of morbidity and mortality in surgical settings, with critically ill patients, transplant recipients, and sick neonates all especially vulnerable. Fungal infections remain an important cause of morbidity and mortality in surgical settings, with critically ill patients, transplant recipients, and sick neonates all especially vulnerable. Despite the development of a number of new and useful antifungal agents in the past decade and the noteworthy improvements in therapeutic approaches to fungal infections, physicians’ ability to diagnose these infections in a timely fashion remains limited, and patient outcomes remain poor. Antifungal prophylaxis has emerged as a potential means of reducing the occurrence of serious fungal infections. In patient populations estimated to be at high risk for acquiring a fungal infection, antifungal prophylaxis has reduced infection rates by about 50%; however, it has not been shown to significantly improve mortality. This review discusses both established and newly approved systemic antifungal agents. Tables list characteristics of currently available antifungals and antifungal chemotherapy.
This review contains 2 tables and 32 references
Key words: antifungal chemotherapy, antifungal prophylaxis, antifungals, Candida prophylaxis, systemic antifungal medications
Antifungal agents for preventing fungal infections in non-neutropenic critically-ill patients
