Can you answer the following questions about
Hivid®?
What is the generic name? Any abbreviations?
What "class" antiretroviral is it and how does it work?
With food, without food or food doesn't matter?
Any side effects?
Any possible drug interactions?
What is a typical dose?
Any other significant counseling points?
Hivid ® (Zalcitabine, ddC) is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor
(NRTI) that
inhibits viral replication.
Hivid ® (Zalcitabine,
ddC) must be given as
0.75 mg tid.
Hivid ® (Zalcitabine, ddC) can be taken
with or without food.
Hivid ®
(Zalcitabine, ddC) can cause
peripheral neuropathy and
stomatitis.
Due to the dosage frequency of zalcitabine and the availability of other
more potent NRTIs, it is not used very frequently in practice.
Lactic acidosis with hepatic steatosis is a rare but potentially fatal
toxicity associated with the use of NRTIs.
As with all antiretrovirals, adherence is
crucial. Non-adherence is a
frequent cause of drug failure and viral resistance, not only to zalcitabine,
but to other NRTIs as well.
