The efficacy and safety of terbinafine in children

Terbinafine is an allylamine antifungal agent that has been effective and safe in the treatment of superficial and some deep mycotic infections in adults. An increasing amount of data is available where terbinafine has been used in the paediatric population to treat superficial fungal infections, in particular tinea. capitis. The data suggest that terbinafine is effective and safe using treatment regimens that involve short duration therapy, leading to an increased compliance and providing a cost-effective means of treating paediatric superficial fungal infections such as tinea capitis. Terbinafine has been approved for the treatment of tinea capitis in many countries worldwide, and provides good efficacy rates for Trichophyton tinea capitis using shorter regimens than the gold standard griseofulvin. The adverse events profile for children is similar to that in adults with few adverse effects associated with its use. The evidence favours the use of terbinafine in the treatment of superficial infections in children.