Flucytosine, also known as 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC), is an antifungal medication. It is specifically used, together with amphotericin B, for serious Candida infections and cryptococcosis. It may be used by itself or with other antifungals for chromomycosis. Flucytosine is used by mouth and by injection into a vein.Common side effects include bone marrow suppression, loss of appetite, diarrhea, vomiting, and psychosis. Anaphylaxis and other allergic reactions occasionally occur. It is unclear if use in pregnancy is safe for the baby. Flucytosine is in the fluorinated pyrimidine analogue family of medications. It works by being converted into fluorouracil inside the fungus, which impairs its ability to make protein.Flucytosine was first made in 1957. It is on the World Health Organizations List of Essential Medicines. As of 2016, in the United States the medication cost about US$2,000 per day while in the United Kingdom it is about US$22 per day. It is not available in much of the developing world. Medical uses
Flucytosine by mouth is used for the treatment of serious infections caused by susceptible strains of Candida or Cryptococcus neoformans. It can also be used for the treatment of chromomycosis (chromoblastomycosis), if susceptible strains cause the infection. Flucytosine must not be used as a sole agent in life-threatening fungal infections due to relatively weak antifungal effects and fast development of resistance, but rather in combination with amphotericin B and/or azole antifungals such as fluconazole or itraconazole. Minor infections such as candidal cystitis may be treated with flucytosine alone.
Generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) is an extremely rare type of psoriasis that can present in a variety of forms. Unlike the most general and common forms of psoriasis, GPP usually covers the entire body and with pus-filled blisters rather than plaques. GPP can present at any age, but is rarer in young children. It can appear with or without previous psoriasis conditions or history, and can reoccur in periodic episodes. Signs and symptoms
GPP presents as pustules and plaques over a wide area of the body. It differs from the localized form of pustular psoriasis in that patients are often febrile and systemically ill.However, the most prominent symptom, as described in the Archives of Dermatology, is "sheeted, pinhead-sized, sterile, sub-corneal pustules". The IPC roundtable adds that these pustules often occur either at the edges "of expanding, intensely inflammatory plaques" or "within erythrodermic skin". Causes
Most cases of generalized pustular psoriasis present in patients with existing or prior psoriasis conditions. However, there are many cases of GPP that arise without a history of psoriasis.The Department of Dermatology of the University of São Paulo proposed a classification for these two conditions. Pso+ represents patients with a personal history of psoriasis and pso- represents patients with no history of psoriasis. They also identified a common factor among patients in each group: In the pso+ group, the most common precipitating factor is corticosteroid withdrawal. In the pso- group, the most common precipitating factor is infection.In a large portion of cases, the disease is brought on by some triggering factor.