Zidovudine and didanosine combination therapy in children with human immunodeficiency virus infection

Objective. Zidovudine and didanosine are both beneficial for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in children. Because disease progression and toxicity often limit their long-term use as single agents, new approaches to using nucleoside analogues are necessary to improve current antiretroviral therapy. Design. We conducted a phase I-II study to evaluate the tolerance, pharmacokinetics, and antiviral activity of the combination of zidovudine and didanosine in children with HIV infection. Sixty-eight children who were either previously untreated or who had manifested hematologic toxicity on full-dose zidovudine were enrolled