Officials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that they will review a Danish study concerning oral fluconazole (Diflucan) during pregnancy.
The study results show that there is an increased chance of pregnant women miscarrying when they take oral fluconazole for their yeast infections.
Officials will review the study as well as additional data concerning the issue. They will release their final conclusions, in addition to their recommendations, after they finish conducting their review and evaluation.
It is important to note that guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that pregnant women who have vulvovaginal yeast infections use only topical antifungal products. If the yeast infections continue, it is recommended that the women continue using the topical antifungal products for longer periods of time.
Oral fluconazole can be used to treat any yeast infections in the mouth, vagina and esophagus. Health professionals also use it to treat fungal infections in the spinal cord and brain. These infections, titled cryptococcal meningitis, are typically found among people who have weakened immune systems. Because of this weakness, the infections spread throughout the rest of the patient’s system.
Current drug labels from the FDA show that data suggests people won’t have increased chances of pregnancy issues when they take one 150 mg dose of the treatment. Unfortunately, when pregnant women take higher doses, they can have abnormalities at birth.
