Paediatric treatment

The first and only antiretroviral drug available for HIV in 1990, zidovudine (AZT), is approved for use in children by the USA Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA), three years after its approval for adults. There had been concerns over the severe side-effects associated with AZT and how it would affect paediatric patients, but trials find side effects to be similar to adults at a similar stage of the disease. The drug is the first real hope for young children living with HIV.