A new study has found pregnant women who take fluconazole to treat vaginal yeast infections have a higher chance of having miscarriages. Researchers reveal one in 10 pregnant women are likely to develop yeast infections. That number is higher than for nonpregnant women.
Initially, women are prescribed topical medicines to get rid of yeast infections. However, if that doesn't work they are then given fluconazole. Pregnant women are often prescribed this drug to treat the infection, despite its link to increased risk of birth defects like heart malformations.
For the study, researchers analysed data of close to 29,458 pregnancies that ended in a miscarriage. They also investigated data of 245,059 pregnancies that did not end in a miscarriage.
The team found the risk of miscarriage was high for women who took low doses of fluconazole. Women who took much higher doses had close to triple the miscarriage risk.
"Regardless of dosage, oral fluconazole use is associated with the risk of spontaneous abortions," lead study author Anick Bérard of the University of Montreal in Quebec, told a news portal. The team also found no link between the drug and risk of stillbirth and only very high doses were found to increase risk of heart defects. “This is reassuring given that low-dose is the most frequently used,” Bérard stated.
However, researchers note that pregnant women need to seek alternatives to fluconazole for yeast infections.“The recommended treatment of choice in pregnancy for vaginal yeast infections are topical antifungal agents (clotrimazole, miconazole) that are administered via the vagina in the form of cream or vaginal tablet,” Dr Vanessa Paquette, a pharmacy researcher at the University of British Columbia in Canada, told a news portal. Adding, “These agents have been shown to be safe and effective in pregnant women.”
