Topical anti-infective agents act by either killing or inhibiting the spread of the infectious agent. They include antibiotics, antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral agents.
Topical anti-infective agents are applied to the skin, on the nail, onto mucus membranes or vaginally, to treat the infection. These topical agents are available as creams, ointments, shampoos, powders and other forms, which can be applied locally on the area that needs to be treated.
Antivirals are used to treat infections caused by viruses. Usually they work for only one kind or group of virus infections. Topical acyclovir is used to treat the symptoms of herpes simplex virus infections of the skin, mucous membranes, and genitals (sex organs).
Topical antimicrobial agents are chemical substances that, directly applied to the skin, inhibit the growth or destroy any microorganism, either fungi, viruses or bacteria. Within this term, we generally refer to those that are active against the latter. They are divided into antiseptics and antibiotics.
The agents active against various herpes viruses (herpes simplex, varicella zoster, cytomegalovirus) include acyclovir and related acyclic nucleoside analogues such as valacyclovir, cidofovir, famciclovir, ganciclovir and valganciclovir, and other miscellaneous agents such as foscarnet.
