THe following anti-HIV drugs cause
“severe
skin rash”
THe following anti-HIV drugs cause
“severe
skin rash”
Severe Rash
The pharmaceutical
industry has paid more than $7 billion in criminal and civil
complaints between 2004-2010 for drugs that injure or kill
millions every year. While many pharmaceutically-funded
aids activists and clinicians claim that HIV causes severe skin rashes, honest
clinicians (and the fine print) acknowledge that these diseases are caused by
anti-HIV drugs.
Severe
and life-threatening skin reactions, including fatal cases occur most
frequently soon after taking any of the three major classes of anti-HIV drugs.
These have included cases of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis
(dead skin peeling from the body), and hypersensitivity reactions characterized
by rash, and organ dysfunction including liver failure. The non-nucleoside
analogs cause the majority of skin rashes, with Viramune causing the most
severe rashes.
Toxic
Epidermal Necrolysis
Stevens-Johnson
syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis are two different forms of the same
kind of skin rash. Toxic
epidermal necrolysis differs from Stevens-Johnson syndrome in the extent of
skin detachment: Stevens-Johnson
syndrome is defined for rash covering less than 10% of the body and at
least 30% of the total body skin area. Toxic
epidermal necrolysis is defined for rash covering more than 30% of the body.
It’s probably arbitrary what to call skin detachment between 10 and 30%. Both conditions
must be treated immediately.
Stevens-Johnson
Syndrome
Another
rare but life-threatening rash is DRESS (Drug Rash with Eosinophilia and
Systemic Symptoms). DRESS is characterized by whole-body symptoms, such as
fever, blood abnormalities, and organ inflammation.
Less
Severe Drug-Induced Rashes
