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Oral thrush

How common is oral thrush?

Oral thrush is common among certain groups of people, such as very young babies, people who wear dentures, people who are being treated for cancer and people who have HIV. But it's not at all common in the rest of the population.

Here's what we know about oral thrush in different people at risk:

About 1 in 8 babies age 4 weeks get oral thrush. By the time they're 10 weeks old, this drops to about 1 in 20 babies

Source:
Hope JE.
Treatment of oropharyngeal candidiasis and candidal diaper dermatitis in neonates and infants: review and reappraisal.
Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. 1997; 19: 885-894.

¹
About 7 in 10 people who wear dentures get oral thrush at some time

Source:
Webb BC, Thomas CJ, Wilcox MD, et al.
Candida-associated denture stomatitis. Aetiology and management: a review. Part 3. Treatment of oral candidiasis.
Australian Dental Journal. 1998; 43: 244-249.

²
Between 1 in 10 and 6 in 10 people who have treatment for cancer get oral thrush

Source:
Ninane JA.
Multicentre study of fluconazole versus oral polyenes in the prevention of fungal infection in children with hematological or oncological malignancies.
European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. 1994; 13: 330-337.

³
Up to half the people with

HIV
HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It's the virus that causes AIDS. It makes you sick by damaging cells called CD4 cells. Your body needs these cells to fight infections. You can get HIV by sharing needles for injecting drugs ,or by having sex without a condom with someone who already has the virus.

HIV get oral thrush at some time

Source:
Philips P, Zerncov J, Mahmood W, et al.
Itraconazole cyclodextrin solution for fluconazole-refractory oropharyngeal candidiasis in AIDS: correlation of clinical response with in vivo susceptibility.
AIDS. 1996; 10: 1369-1376.

⁴
More than 9 in 10 people with advanced HIV (

AIDS
AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. People who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) get AIDS when the virus has destroyed most of their immune system. When people have AIDS, their body isn't able to fight infections. So even common infections, such as colds, can cause serious problems.

AIDS) get oral thrush. If they stop treatment for thrush, the infection comes back in half of them within two weeks.

Source:
Philips P, Zerncov J, Mahmood W, et al.
Itraconazole cyclodextrin solution for fluconazole-refractory oropharyngeal candidiasis in AIDS: correlation of clinical response with in vivo susceptibility.
AIDS. 1996; 10: 1369-1376.

⁴

About 4 in 10 healthy people have Candida in their mouth and don't get any problems. (Candida is the fungus that causes thrush.) It's in their saliva and on the back of their tongue, but it doesn't give them oral thrush, and they don't have any symptoms.

Source:
Ellepola ANB, Samaranayakel LP.
Oral candidal infections and antimycotics.
Critical Reviews in Oral Biology and Medicine. 2000; 11: 172-198.

⁵

Sources for the information on this page:

Hope JE.Treatment of oropharyngeal candidiasis and candidal diaper dermatitis in neonates and infants: review and reappraisal.Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. 1997; 19: 885-894.

Webb BC, Thomas CJ, Wilcox MD, et al.Candida-associated denture stomatitis. Aetiology and management: a review. Part 3. Treatment of oral candidiasis.Australian Dental Journal. 1998; 43: 244-249.

Ninane JA.Multicentre study of fluconazole versus oral polyenes in the prevention of fungal infection in children with hematological or oncological malignancies.European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. 1994; 13: 330-337.

Philips P, Zerncov J, Mahmood W, et al.Itraconazole cyclodextrin solution for fluconazole-refractory oropharyngeal candidiasis in AIDS: correlation of clinical response with in vivo susceptibility.AIDS. 1996; 10: 1369-1376.

Ellepola ANB, Samaranayakel LP.Oral candidal infections and antimycotics.Critical Reviews in Oral Biology and Medicine. 2000; 11: 172-198.

This information was last updated on May 08, 2009

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