Various antif ungal drugs are authorised for use in children with invasive candidiasis, in particular amphotericin B, fluconazole (an azole antifungal), or caspofungin (Cancidas° or other brands, an echino-candin). As in adults, the choice between these drugs is made mainly on the basis of their adverse effect profile, any previous use of an antifungal, the severity of the infection, and the organs affected. Aniduta-fungin (Ecalta° - Pfizer), another echinocandin, did not confer any therapeutic advantage in adults (1-3). In the European Union, anidulafungin has now also been authorised for use in children with invasive candidiasis from the age of 1 month. Its clinical evaluation in this situation is based on one non-comparative trial in 64 children, which was not designed to demonstrate an advance compared to another antifungal drug (3,4).
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