Table 26, Common side-effects of antiretroviral drugs - Pocket Book of Hospital Care for Children

Drug	Abbreviation	Side-effects^a	Comments
Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs)
Lamivudine	3TC	Headache, abdominal pain, pancreatitis	Well tolerated
Stavudine^b	d4T	Headache, abdominal pain, neuropathy	Large volume of suspension capsules can be opened.
Zidovudine	ZDV (AZT)	Headache, anaemia, neutropenia	Do not use with d4T (antagonistic antiretroviral effect).
Abacavir	ABC	Hypersensitivity reaction, fever mucositis rash. If these occur, stop the drug.	Tablets can be crushed.
Emtricitabine	FTC	Headache, diarrhoea, nausea, and rash. May cause hepatotoxicity or lactic acidosis.
Tenofovir	TDF	Renal insufficiency, decrease in bone mineral density
Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs)
Efavirenz	EFV	Strange dreams, sleepiness, rash	Take at night; avoid taking with fatty food
Nevirapine	NVP	Rash, liver toxicity	When given with rifampicin, increase nevirapine dose by ∼30% or avoid use. Drug interactions
Protease inhibitors
Lopinavir/ritonavir^a	LPV/RTV	Diarrhoea, nausea	Take with food; bitter taste
Atazanavir		ATZ	Jaundice, prolonged PR interval, nephrolithiasis

Drug

Abbreviation

Side-effects^a

Comments

Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs)

Lamivudine

3TC

Headache, abdominal pain, pancreatitis

Well tolerated

Stavudine^b

d4T

Headache, abdominal pain, neuropathy

Large volume of suspension capsules can be opened.

Zidovudine

ZDV (AZT)

Headache, anaemia, neutropenia

Do not use with d4T (antagonistic antiretroviral effect).

Abacavir

ABC

Hypersensitivity reaction, fever mucositis rash. If these occur, stop the drug.

Tablets can be crushed.

Emtricitabine

FTC

Headache, diarrhoea, nausea, and rash. May cause hepatotoxicity or lactic acidosis.

Tenofovir

TDF

Renal insufficiency, decrease in bone mineral density

Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs)

Efavirenz

EFV

Strange dreams, sleepiness, rash

Take at night; avoid taking with fatty food

Nevirapine

NVP

Rash, liver toxicity

When given with rifampicin, increase nevirapine dose by ∼30% or avoid use. Drug interactions

Protease inhibitors

Lopinavir/ritonavir^a

LPV/RTV

Diarrhoea, nausea

Take with food; bitter taste

Atazanavir

ATZ

Jaundice, prolonged PR interval, nephrolithiasis

From: 8, Children with HIV/AIDS

Cover of Pocket Book of Hospital Care for Children

Pocket Book of Hospital Care for Children: Guidelines for the Management of Common Childhood Illnesses. 2nd edition.

Geneva: World Health Organization; 2013.

All rights reserved. Publications of the World Health Organization are available on the WHO web site (www.who.int) or can be purchased from WHO Press, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland (tel.: +41 22 791 3264; fax: +41 22 791 4857; e-mail: tni.ohw@sredrokoob). Requests for permission to reproduce or translate WHO publications – whether for sale or for non-commercial distribution – should be addressed to WHO Press through the WHO web site (www.who.int/about/licensing/copyright_form/en/index.html).

NCBI Bookshelf. A service of the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.

Table 26Common side-effects of antiretroviral drugs