Hyderabad: The abuse and misuse of combination drugs of topical steroid creams in fungal infections has led to a major resistance, making it very difficult for dermatologists to treat them despite increasing the dosages of the medicines.
The Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists (IADVL) has issued a statement stating that the abuse of steroid creams and steroid combination creams is going unchecked because the Health Ministry has not been taking timely deterrent action.
The IADVL had approached the Drug Controller General of India several times but there was no action taken against the erring companies. Instead, the IADVL stated that there are newer anti-fungal formulations like fluconazole powder, itraconazole powder and creams and amphotericin B gel creams available in the market.
The IADBL demanded to know how these new combinations are given permissions to be added in the creams and sold to the public without prescription.
Dr K. Venkatachalam, senior dermatologist said, “Every day we see about 25 patients who are suffering from recurrent fungal infections. These infections are largely on the arm pits and groin areas.
People buy over the counter (OTC) steroid creams that have so many combinations that they have started developing resistance to them. It has become an obstacle to treat severe cases as the medicines don’t work.”
Doctors state that they also resorted to increasing the dosage of the anti-fungal medicines but the results were not good.
IADVL president Dr Ramesh Bhatt explained, “Due to increasing pollution levels and improper working conditions, the problem of fungal infections has been on the rise. The failure of the anti-fungal medicines is a warning that there is a resistance to them. There is a need to stop these drugs ‘over the counter’ and make them ‘by prescription only’.”
The dermatologists are also using the forum of the Indian Medical Association to sensitise the doctors about the misuse of steroid creams.
