Why is this drug prescribed?

Retrovir capsules, tablets, oral solution and infusion all contain the active ingredient zidovudine, which is a type of drug called a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor. It is used in the treatment of HIV infection. AIDS is caused by infection with HIV. This virus invades cells of the immune system, particularly the white blood cells known as CD4 T-helper lymphocytes. These cells normally work to activate other cells in the immune system to fight infection. Since HIV kills CD4 T-helper cells, over time the body becomes less able to fight the virus or subsequent infections. Once the virus is inside the CD4 T-cell it multiplies. Part of the process of viral multiplication involves the conversion of the virus genetic material, RNA, into DNA. This is achieved by a compound essential to the virus, called reverse transcriptase. Reverse transcriptase is a compound known as an enzyme. Zidovudine works by blocking the action of this enzyme, thereby interfering with the conversion of viral RNA into DNA. This stops the virus from multiplying. There is no cure for HIV, but zidovudine is one of a number of drugs that lowers the amount of virus in the body and slows the progression of the disease from HIV to AIDS. Zidovudine is used in conjunction with other anti-HIV drugs that attack the HIV virus in different ways. This helps prevent the virus becoming resistant to the drug. Zidovudine may be used on its own to treat pregnant women infected with HIV, in order to try and prevent transmission of HIV to the baby. Zidovudine is also given to the baby once it is born, to treat any HIV infection that might have been passed to it from the mother during delivery.

Treatments

* HIV infection. * Preventing HIV infection being passed from pregnant women to their developing babies.

What side effects can this drug cause?

* Headache * Dizziness * Disturbances of the gut such as diarrhoea, constipation, nausea, vomiting or abdominal pain * Low red blood cell count * Decrease in the number of white blood cells in the blood * Decrease in the number of a type of white blood cell in the blood * General feeling of being unwell * Weakness or loss of strength * Fever * Pain in the muscles * Shortness of breath * Rash or itching * Liver disorders * Inflammation of the pancreas * Pins and needles * Alteration in taste * Sleepiness * Difficulty in sleeping * Loss of appetite * Elevated levels of lactic acid in the blood * Anxiety and depression