Indian Journal of Pharmacology Medknow Publications on behalf of Indian Pharmacological Society ISSN: 0253-7613 EISSN: 1998-3751 Vol. 42, Num. 6, 2010, pp. 421-421

Indian Journal of Pharmacology, Vol. 42, No. 6, November-December, 2010, pp. 421

Letter to the Editor

Very-low-birth-weight infants, prophylactic micafungin or fluconazole

Luis Gonzalez-Granado

Department of Pediatrics and Immunodeficiencies, Hospital 12 octubre, Carretera Andalucia km 5,400, Postal code 28041, Madrid, Spain

Correspondence Address:
Luis Gonzalez-Granado
Department of Pediatrics and Immunodeficiencies, Hospital 12 octubre, Carretera Andalucia km 5,400, Postal code 28041, Madrid
Spain
nachgonzalez@gmail.com

Code Number: ph10123

DOI: 10.4103/0253-7613.71904

Sir,

I read with great interest the article by Grover in a previous issue of the journal. ^[1] The author states that micafungin is approved for prophylaxis of candida infections in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). It is not the only the use of prophylactic micafungin, but also it also prevents candida infection in very-low-birth-weight preterm neonates. The authors support the idea of micafungin as a second-line treatment after failure with fluconazole. However, both drugs have been assessed and the comparison in prophylaxis is favorable to micafungin. ^[2]

The pharmacokinetic profile of micafungin in very-low-birth-weight preterms has been studied, and its safety and efficacy in that population has been confirmed. ^[3] As it has been reported, the efficacy of micafungin in the clearance of candida infection compared with fluconazole is favorable to micafungin. ^[4] Therefore, we should recognize that micafungin is at least an alternative to fluconazole as the preferred drug for antifungal prophylaxis in very-low-birth-weight preterm patients.

References

1.	Grover ND. Echinocandins: A ray of hope in antifungal drug therapy. Indian J Pharmacol 2010;42:9-11.  Back to cited text no. 1  [PUBMED]
2.	Sohn HS, Lee TJ, Kim J, Kim D. Cost-effectiveness analysis of micafungin versus fluconazole for prophylaxis of invasive fungal infections in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Korea. Clin Ther 2009;31:1105-15.  Back to cited text no. 2  [PUBMED]  [FULLTEXT]
3.	Kawada M, Fukuoka N, Kondo M, Okazaki K, Kusaka T, Kawada K, et al. Pharmacokinetics of prophylactic micafungin in very-low-birth-weight infants. Pediatr Infect Dis J 2009;28:840-2.  Back to cited text no. 3  [PUBMED]
4.	Warn PA, Sharp A, Morrissey G, Denning DW. In vivo activity of micafungin in apersistently neutropenic murine model of disseminated infection caused by Candida tropicalis. J Antimicrob Chemother 2002;50:1071-4.  Back to cited text no. 4  [PUBMED]  [FULLTEXT]

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