{"id":4262,"date":"2001-04-17T20:38:26","date_gmt":"2001-04-17T19:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moomango.co.uk\/htb\/?p=4262"},"modified":"2014-06-12T14:02:52","modified_gmt":"2014-06-12T14:02:52","slug":"efavirenz-use-in-hiv-positive-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/4262","title":{"rendered":"Efavirenz use in HIV-positive children"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Efavirenz, a nonnucleoside inhibitor used to treat HIV infection, can be safely used in children, though parents need to be educated regarding transient side effects, according to a report by French investigators in the January 26th issue of the journal AIDS.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Widely used in HIV-positive adults, efavirenz has not been studied thoroughly in children, according to Dr. Stephane Blanche from Hopital Necker Enfants Malades in Paris and colleagues. To investigate, Dr. Blanche&#8217;s group tracked viral loads, CD4 cell counts, and side effects in 33 children given efavirenz in a single daily dose in combination with various other antiretroviral agents.<\/p>\n<p>In about half the children, viral load fell below 200 copies\/mL after 3 months of therapy and remained low through 6 months of follow-up, the authors report.<\/p>\n<p>Median CD4 counts increased by 46 cells per microliter during the first month of therapy, the researchers note, and after 6 months CD4 counts had increased by 128 cell per microliter.<\/p>\n<p>Fifteen children (42%) experienced clinically obvious side effects, the report indicates, requiring interruption of treatment in seven children.<\/p>\n<p>Most such side effects involved the nervous system and included dizziness, headaches, or nightmares or sleep difficulty. According to the results, however, these manifestations resolved spontaneously within a few days in most children, and there were no long-term side effects related to efavirenz.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;These symptoms,&#8221; the authors conclude, &#8220;despite being transitory, should be discussed in advance with the patient and family so as to minimize the risk of premature withdrawal from treatment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The drug must be taken at the evening,&#8221; Dr. Blanche said. His group suggests that the parent and the child find the best schedule to avoid dizziness, a common drug side effect. &#8220;We try to start during a holiday period [so] that morning dizziness does not have an impact on the school time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Blanche advises physicians to &#8220;not underestimate the anxiety induced (both in parents and children) by this benign and transient toxicity. This can produce a high risk of noncompliance, and it would be a great pity to lose this powerful once-daily drug.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Reference:<\/p>\n<p>AIDS 2001;14:241-243. Source: Reuters Health<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Efavirenz, a nonnucleoside inhibitor used to treat HIV infection, can be safely used in children, though parents need to be educated regarding transient side effects, according to a report by French investigators in the January 26th issue of the journal &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-antiretrovirals","category-paediatric-care"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4262\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}