Caspofungin therapy in immunocompromised children and neonates.

Abstract

The prevalence of invasive fungal infections is increasing and the infections are becoming a major problem in immunocompromised children and neonates. Fortunately, there has been a recent surge in the development of new antifungal agents. Caspofungin, the first licensed echinocandin, is a novel class of antifungal and is approved for use in children 3 months of age or older for the treatment of invasive candidiasis, salvage therapy for invasive aspergillosis and as empirical therapy for febrile neutropenia. This article reviews the published data on the use of caspofungin in immunocompromised children and neonates with invasive fungal infections.

• Authors: Ayper Somer, Selda H Törün, Nuran Salman
• Journal: Expert review of anti-infective therapy (Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther) Vol. 9 Issue 3 Pg. 347-55 (Mar 2011) ISSN: 1744-8336 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 21417874 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Antifungal Agents
• Echinocandins
• Lipopeptides
• Caspofungin

Topics

• Antifungal Agents (adverse effects, pharmacokinetics, therapeutic use)
• Aspergillosis (drug therapy)
• Aspergillus (drug effects)
• Candida (drug effects)
• Candidiasis, Invasive (drug therapy)
• Caspofungin
• Child
• Child, Preschool
• Drug Interactions
• Drug Resistance, Fungal
• Drug Therapy, Combination
• Echinocandins (adverse effects, pharmacokinetics, therapeutic use)
• Humans
• Immunocompromised Host
• Infant
• Infant, Newborn
• Lipopeptides
• Microbial Sensitivity Tests