Antifungal therapy: drug-drug interactions at your fingertips.

Abstract

The Information Age has revolutionized the ability of healthcare professionals (HCPs) to oversee a substantial body of clinically relevant information literally at one's fingertips. In the field of clinical pharmacology, this may be particularly useful for managing drug-drug interactions (DDIs). A thorough understanding of the underlying mechanisms of DDIs allows the HCP to predict such interactions and avoid those of greatest clinical significance. Specifically, successful treatment with antifungal agents is complicated by the high potential to interact with other concomitant medications. We describe here the development of a real-time knowledge base of DDIs with antifungal agents, providing expert recommendations to HCPs on how to handle DDIs with these drugs. This new resource will facilitate rapid identification, quantification and classification of these DDIs by clinicians with varying levels of experience and resources worldwide, ultimately improving patient safety and strengthening health systems.