EXPERTS CONSIDER SIDE EFFECT OF ARV USED IN SOUTH AFRICA

The dangerous side effects of an HIV drug commonly used in South Africa have forced medical experts to reevaluate the limited treatment options available in developing countries, reports the UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN).

Stavudine (also known as Zerit or d4T), used in South Africa's free antiretroviral (ARV) program, could cause lactic acidosis in some people, particularly overweight women. Lactic acidosis is a rare and serious illness, caused when lactic acid is not eliminated from the body and instead builds up in the blood and cells, causing abdominal pains, nausea, vomiting and muscle weakness. It is linked to all nucleoside analogues (a class of drugs that prevent healthy cells from becoming infected with HIV), although the condition may occur more commonly with Stavudine.

The use of the medication as a first-line treatment for HIV-positive people was phased out in the U.S. after the FDA approved Tenofovir as a safer alternative. But more than three years after Gilead Sciences, which manufactures Tenofovir, first announced its access program for its new HIV drug, it is still largely unavailable in poor nations, according to IRIN.