It is not yet known whether common vaginal yeast infections that are now so widespread among the general population are playing any role in the spread of HIV to women, but the possibility certainly exists. Oral and esophageal candidiasis infections can be treated with a variety of antifungal drugs of varying strengths. Treatment of candidiasis is usually continued for only a short period of time, just until the infection clears, and is usually not continued longer, since reoccurrence does not seem to be a major problem in the majority of infections. Also, the low risk of death associated with candidiasis infections, the serious potential for resistant organisms to develop, the possibility of drug interactions, and the very high cost of prophylaxis with fluconazole, all tend to make the constant use of this antifungal drug a bad treatment choice. Most of the other antifungal drugs used against candidal infections are also poor choices for prophylaxis , or preventive therapy.
Candida yeasts are extremely common in the environment and on all mucous membrane and skin surfaces.
No measures are currently known or available that can significantly reduce exposure to these fungal organisms. However, there are ways to lessen the severity of yeast infections that use no drugs at all and have been used for centuries for this purpose. The main way to reduce the severity of yeast infections is to cut out all dietary intake of sugars and other foods on which yeasts thrive. These will, if given the opportunity, actually compete with yeasts for nutrients within the human body. Bacteria such as Lactobacillus species and other forms of beneficial bacteria, will thrive in the human digestive tract and on internal mucous membranes.