High Volume of Topical Antifungal Prescribing While Resistant Fungal Skin Infections Emerge

Title: Topical Antifungal Prescribing for Medicare Part D Beneficiaries — United States, 2021

This January 2024 CDC publication highlights several important findings:

  • Over 6.5 million topical antifungal prescriptions were filled in 2021 by Medicare Part D beneficiaries
  • The cost for these prescriptions was $231 million
  • Over half of those prescriptions were written by 10% of topical antifungal prescribers

Take-home messages

  • There is a high volume of topical antifungal prescribing concurrent with a rise in emerging resistant fungal skin infections
  • Therefore, there is a need to;
    • Evaluate current topical antifungal prescribing practices (particularly in combination with corticosteroids)
    • Encourage confirmatory testing before topical antifungal prescribing
    • Educate patients about appropriate use of topical antifungals