VANCOUVER, B.C.-Long-term weekly antifungal doses seem to prevent candidal infections in women with HIV.
In a placebo-controlled NIH trial of 323 HIV-infected women, 200 mg of fluconazole (Diflucan, Roerig) given once weekly reduced by 50% the risk of oral and 38% the risk of vaginal candidiasis over a 29-month median follow-up.
In a substudy of those developing infections with drug-resistant Candida strains, six had been given fluconazole, vs. seven who’d been given placebo, Dr. Paula Schuman told the International AIDS Conference here.
All participants in this first trial of antifungal prophylaxis in HIV-positive women had CD4 counts lower than 300 cells/mm3.
