Succesful management of suspected Abacavir hypersensitivity reactions among African children in the ARROW (AntiRetroviral Research fOr Watoto) trial
Abstract
In a trial in Uganda and Zimbabwe, 1207 HIV-infected children, not previously treated with antiretroviral therapy, were given abacavir, lamivudine and either nevirapine or efavirenz (as well as cotrimoxazole as prophylaxis against other infections); in one arm of the trial, they were also given zidovudine. Hypersensitivy reactions were reported in 52 children, and in 7 of them, treatment was stopped. The symptoms resolved in the 6 surviving cases (one child with isosporiasis died), the treatment was restarted without abacavir, and there were no recurrences of symptoms. Independent review found that only 3 of the 7 cases (0.2% of trial participants) were actually possible or probable reactions to abacavir; the clinical features of these cases are described