Abstract
There are a plethora of antifungal agents available for the treatment of onychomycosis. Systemic antifungal drugs are generally recommended for severe onychomycosis, while topical antifungal agents and devices are recommended for mild to moderate onychomycosis. Oral terbinafine is the gold standard treatment of onychomycosis, with high cure rates and proven treatment success. Novel therapies and newer antifungal formulations are under development. New topical formulations focus on enhanced drug penetration into the nail plate through multiroute administration to eliminate the infection from the nail bed. Effective management of onychomycosis is vital to combat increasing treatment failures, antifungal resistance and incidences of non-dermatophyte mold onychomycosis and mixed infections. Patients should be educated about nail hygiene, proper sanitization of shoes and socks, wearing proper footwear in communal showers and public pools, keeping feet dry, and prophylaxis post-treatment. Important steps in maximizing treatment success are combination therapy and inclusion of agents targeting fungal biofilms.
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Gupta, A.K., Venkataraman, M., Quinlan, E.M. (2021). New Antifungal Agents and New Formulations Against Dermatophytes. In: Bouchara, JP., Nenoff, P., Gupta, A.K., Chaturvedi, V. (eds) Dermatophytes and Dermatophytoses. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67421-2_21
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