Types of medicine
What Is an Antifungal? Uses and Label Warnings
Antifungal · say it: an-tee-FUNG-gulAlso written: antifungals, antimycotic, antifungal agent, azole antifungal
Short answer
An antifungal is a medicine that treats or prevents infections caused by fungi, such as yeast infections, athlete's foot and ringworm.
What it means
Antifungals are medicines that kill fungi or stop them growing. They come as creams, powders, mouth gels, vaginal products, tablets and drips. Common uses include thrush, athlete's foot, ringworm, nail infections and, less often, serious fungal infections in the blood or organs. Examples of groups include azoles (names often end in '-azole') and polyenes such as nystatin.
Antifungal labels carry several common warnings. Some azole tablets interact with many other medicines because they slow the liver enzymes, such as CYP3A4, that break those medicines down. Some can affect the liver, or the heart's rhythm (QT prolongation). Topical antifungal labels usually say to keep using the product for the full time, even after the itch stops, and to see a doctor if there is no improvement.
Antifungals are different from antibiotics, which treat bacteria and can actually make yeast infections more likely. They are also different from antivirals.
Where you may see it
- Over-the-counter antifungal cream and powder labels
- The 'Drug Interactions' section of azole antifungal labels
- Prescriptions for thrush or fungal nail infection
📄 How it looks on a report
Coadministration with drugs metabolized by CYP3A4 may result in increased plasma concentrations of those drugs.
🙅 What it does not mean
- An antifungal will not help a bacterial infection, and an antibiotic will not treat a fungal one.
- Stopping a cream when the itch fades does not mean the infection has gone.
- Interaction warnings do not mean you cannot take any other medicines; they need checking.
🗒️ Questions to ask your doctor
💊 Medicines whose labels mention “Antifungal”
Plain-English explanations of each medicine, from its official FDA label.
- Artemether and Lumefantrine
an antimalarial medicine, which is a fixed combination of two blood-stage antimalarial ingredients (artemether, an artemisinin derivative, and lumefantrine)
- Atorvastatin
a statin, a cholesterol-lowering medicine of the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor type
- Clindamycin Phosphate
A lincosamide antibacterial medicine
- Clonazepam
a benzodiazepine, a type of medicine that slows activity in the central nervous system
- Dapagliflozin
a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, a type of diabetes medicine
- Empagliflozin
a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, a prescription medicine that works on sugar handling in the kidneys
- Fluconazole
an azole antifungal medicine, a type of medicine that treats fungal (yeast) infections
- Fluticasone Propionate
A corticosteroid, which is a steroid medicine, given as a nasal spray
- Glipizide
a blood-sugar-lowering medicine of the sulfonylurea type
- Phenytoin
An anti-epileptic (seizure) medicine. The label describes it as related to barbiturates in chemical structure, and it belongs to the hydantoin group of medicines.
🔗 Read more from trusted sources
- “Antifungal” on MedlinePlus ↗
US National Library of Medicine
- NCI Dictionary definition ↗
US National Cancer Institute: “antifungal”
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General information about a medical word, not advice about your own results. Ask the clinician who ordered the test what it means for you.