IMMEDIATE ZIDOVUDINE TREATMENT PROTECTS SIMIAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS-INFECTED NEWBORN MACAQUES AGAINST RAPID ONSET OF AIDS

Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection of newborn rhesus macaqu es is a practical animal model of pediatric AIDS. Intravenous inoculat ion of rhesus newborns with uncloned SIVmax resulted in a high virus l oad, no antiviral immune responses, severe immunodeficiency, and a hig h mortality rate within 3 months. In contrast, immediate oral zidovudi ne (AZT) treatment of SIV-inoculated rhesus newborns either prevented infection or resulted in reduced virus load, enhanced antiviral immune responses, a low frequency of AZT-resistant virus isolates, and delay ed disease progression with negligible toxicity. These results suggest that early chronic AZT treatment of human immunodeficiency virus-expo sed newborns may have benefits that outweigh its potential side effect s.