Intermittent short duration therapy with fluconazole is effective for tinea capitis

• Published in: British journal of dermatology (1951) Vol. 141; no. 2; pp. 304 - 306
• Main Authors: GUPTA, A. K, ADAM, P, ABOOBAKER, J, SUMMERBELL, R. C, HOFSTADER, S. L. R, LYNDE, C. W, TABORDA, P, TABORDA, V, MORAR, N, DLOVA, N, RABOOBEE, N, KONNIKOV, N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford BSL Blackwell Science Ltd 01.08.1999; Blackwell; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Adolescent; Antibiotics. Antiinfectious agents. Antiparasitic agents; Antifungal agents; Antifungal Agents - administration & dosage; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; fluconazole; Fluconazole - administration & dosage; Human mycoses; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infectious diseases; intermittent therapy; Male; Medical sciences; Mycoses; Mycoses of the skin; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; tinea capitis; Tinea Capitis - drug therapy; Treatment Outcome; Human; Skin disease; Fluconazole; Mycosis; Trichophyton; Administration schedule; Fungi; Infection; Antifungal agent; Chemotherapy; Treatment; Scalp; Intermittent; Triazole derivatives; Fungi Imperfecti; Child; Dermatophyte; Thallophyta
• ISSN: 0007-0963; 1365-2133
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2133.1999.02981.x

We have demonstrated in an open multicentre investigation that oral fluconazole 6 mg/kg daily for 2 weeks, followed, if clinically indicated four weeks from the start of therapy, by an extra week of treatment at the same dosage, may be effective and safe in the treatment of tinea capitis. Of a total of 48 patients, there were 42 evaluable children < 18 years old (19 boys, 23 girls; mean age 6.2 years, range 1.5–16). The causative organisms were Trichophyton tonsurans (38 subjects) and T. violaceum (four). In the 42 evaluable patients, a 2‐week course of fluconazole was administered in 21, with the remainder requiring 1 additional week of therapy. At follow‐up 12 weeks from the start of therapy, mycological and clinical cure was recorded in 37 of the 42 evaluable patients (88.1%, 95% confidence interval 83.1–93.1%). The treatment was well tolerated, with no clinical adverse effects. This regimen appears to be effective and safe, and is associated with high compliance. The preliminary results of the investigation need to be evaluated in a larger sample of patients, and in tinea capitis caused by zoophilic species.