Patent ID: 7674785

Claim:
A topical composition for treating microbes, in order to inhibit the growth on the skin or scalp of said microbes, comprising: a) from about 0.001% to about 2%, by weight of the composition, of an anti-microbial active selected from the group consisting of polyvalent metal salts of pyrithione; b) from about 0.001% to about 10%, by weight of the composition, of a metal ion source selected from group consisting of copper disodium citrate, copper triethanolamine, copper carbonate, cuprous ammonium carbonate, cupric hydroxide, copper chloride, cupric chloride, copper ethylenediamine complex, copper oxychloride, copper oxychloride sulfate, cuprous oxide, copper thiocyanate, colloidal silver, silver bromide, silver chloride, silver citrate, silver iodide, silver lactate, silver nitrate, silver oxide, silver picrate, and mixtures thereof; and c) a topical carrier for the anti-microbial active and the metal salt; wherein the weight ratio of the metal source to the anti-microbial active is from about 5:100 to about 5:1 and wherein at least 50% of the anti-microbial active is insoluble in the composition.