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AZT: The First Drug to Treat HIV Infection is approved...
AZT: The First Drug to Treat HIV Infection is approved...
Item # 717448
March 21, 1987
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, PA, March 21, 1987
* First drug used to treat HIV/AIDS
The front page has "U.S. licenses first drug to treat AIDS", which continues on an inside page with the related heading: "FDA quickly licenses a drug to treat AIDS", and includes a photo. This tells of AZT: The First Drug to Treat HIV Infection. While in time its use would be controversial, it was the first drug to provide hope for those suffering with HIV/AIDS.
Other news of the day is found throughout.
All major sections are present, complete, and in good condition.
AI notes: AZT, or zidovudine, is a pioneering antiretroviral drug used to treat HIV/AIDS, first approved in 1987 as the very first therapy targeting the virus. It belongs to the class of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and works by mimicking the natural nucleoside thymidine, which HIV uses to convert its RNA into DNA. When incorporated into the viral DNA by reverse transcriptase, AZT terminates the DNA chain, effectively halting viral replication. It is administered orally or intravenously and is used both to treat HIV infection in adults and children and to prevent mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy and childbirth. Common side effects include fatigue, headache, nausea, and anemia, while rare but serious complications can involve lactic acidosis and liver toxicity, requiring careful monitoring. Despite the development of newer antiretroviral drugs with improved efficacy and fewer side effects, AZT remains historically significant as the drug that first made long-term HIV management possible and continues to be used in certain combination therapies around the world.
Category: The 20th Century
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