Patent ID: 7026308

Claim:
A topical composition for treating microbes, in order to inhibit or prevent the growth on the skin or scalp of said microbes, comprising: a) from about 0,001% to about 10%, 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 zinc salts, copper salts, silver salts, nickel salts, cadmium salts, mercury salts, bismuth salts, 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 and further wherein the composition comprises at least a 5 to 1 ratio of polyvalent metal salt of pyrithione to a strong chelating agent wherein the strong chelating agent is selected from the group consisting of di- or polyamines, diethylene triamine penta-acetic acid, tetraethylene triamine, ethylene diamine, diethylene triamine or salts thereof or mixtures thereof.