Antifungals may reduce symptomatic, clinical recurrence of vaginal thrush

At 6 months, the proportion of women with clinical and mycological recurrences of VVC may be lower in those receiving antifungal drug treatment compared with those receiving placebo or no treatment.

At 12 months (6 months active treatment, placebo or no treatment, followed by 6 months observation), the proportion of women with clinical recurrence may be lower in the treatment group compared with the placebo or no treatment group; however, no difference was found in mycological recurrence between the 2 groups.

The evidence is very uncertain if there is a difference in clinical recurrence between oral and topical treatments. This concurs with a previous Cochrane review, which found no difference in efficacy between oral and topical antifungal treatments.

Systemic adverse events were reported more frequently with oral antifungal agents (nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea) than with topical treatments. However, overall, adverse events were scarce and poorly reported.