Possible Drug Interaction during Therapy with Azidothymidine and Acyclovir for AIDS

Abstract

To the Editor: Azidothymidine has recently been made available through the National Institutes of Health to patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) who have recently recovered from Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. At present, the protocol demands that the patient not be treated with any other myelo-suppressive agents or chemotherapy. I would like to report a probable drug interaction between azidothymidine and acyclovir that resulted in severe incapacitating drowsiness and lethargy in a patient with AIDS.A 30-year-old homosexual man receiving intravenous trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole therapy for documented P. carinii pneumonia had temperatures of up to 39.5°C just before completion of this therapy. . . .