Can you answer the following questions about
Ziagen®?
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?
Do any other drugs contain
Ziagen®? Name them.
Any other significant counseling points?
Ziagen ® (Abacavir, ABC) is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor
(NRTI) that
inhibits viral replication.
Ziagen ® (Abacavir, ABC) is
dosed as 300 mg bid.
Since Trizivir® contains Abacavir as one of its three components,
Trizivir® may be an alternative dosing option.
Ziagen ® (Abacavir, ABC) can be taken
with or without food.
Counsel patients on 5% risk of
hypersensitivity reaction associated with
abacavir use. Reaction most often consists
of at least
two of the following:
fever, rash, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, and respiratory symptoms.
Patients experiencing a hypersensitivity reaction should stop antiretroviral
therapy, contact provider, and NEVER receive abacavir
again.
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 abacavir,
but to other NRTIs as well.
