DRUGS FOR ATHLETE'S FOOT AND TINEA CRURIS

... Clotrimazole or Miconazole Preferred. But other Products May Be Useful In Mild Cases Many products are available for treating athlete's foot and 'jock itch'. 'A few non-prescription products may be helpful. but some recently introduced drugs available only by prescription are more effective for treatment of severe infections.' Athlete's foot (tinea pedis) is caused by various dermatophytes, and often complicated by superimposed bacterial infections. Chronicity and reinfection are common, usually owing to reactivation of the fungus: Careful hygiene and dryness may improve mild infections, The most widely promoted remedies are those containing undecylenic acid or its salts, available without prescription in 'Desenex' and 'Cruex' (Pharmacraft), 'Daliderm' (Dalin), 'Deso-Creme' (Columbia), 'Foot Gt1ard' (Gillette), 'Quinsana' (Mennen) and 'Verdefam' (Texas Pharmacal). Regular dusting with zinc undecylenate or undecylenic acid can help retard growth of the fungi. Effective newer topical agents are clotrimazole ('Lotrimin', Delbay; 'Canesten', Bayer AG), miconazole ('Mica-Tin', Johnson and Johnson), tolnaftate ('Tinactin', Schering; 'Aftate', Plough) and haloprogin ('Halotex', West wood). Tolnaftate is available over-the­counter in a cream, l9tion, powder and aerosol, while the others require prescriptions. There have been few controlled trials comparing the old and new products, but 'Medical Letter consultants consider the newer drugs more effective, and prefer miconazole or clotrimazole over haloprogin and tolnaftate'. Tinea pedis may require several weeks of treatment and even then cure is not certain. Crural skin infections may be treated with the same agents or for known Candida infections, with topical nystatin ('Mycostatin', Squibb; 'Nilstat', l.ederle). Oral griseofulvin ('Fulvicin U /F', Schering; and others) is effective for chronic tinea infections, but because of possible. carcinogenicity should be reserved for tinea infections of the scalp or severe finger nail infections. It should be used for other ringworm infections only if severe and unresponsive to topical agents.

Medical Letter 18: 101 (19 Nov 1976)

INPHARMA 18th December, 1976 p3