Antifungals

An antifungal drug is medication used to treat fungal infections such as athlete's foot, ringworm, yeast infections, and candidiasis (thrush), as well as serious systemic infections like cryptococcal meningitis. Such drugs can be either prescription drugs or OTC drugs.

Antifungals work by exploiting differences between mammalian and fungal cells to kill off the fungal organism without significantly harming the host. Unlike bacteria, both fungi and humans are eukaryotes. The basic structure of fungal cells and human cells is nearly identical. This means it is more difficult to find a target for an antifungal drug to attack that does not also exist in the infected organism. Consequently, there are often side-effects to these drugs. Some of these side-effects can be life-threatening.