Abstract
We report the first case of a massive accidental overdose of nevirapine in a 1-week newborn, due to confusion between nevirapine (Viramune) and nelfinavir (Viracept). The drug was eliminated spontaneously and quickly. We only observed mild neutropenia and hyperlactatemia, which regressed on its own without any clinical complication. Despite the good evolution of this massive overdose, physicians should be aware of confusion risks between some antiretroviral drugs.
Abbreviations
- HIV:
-
human immunodeficiency virus
References
Anderson BJ, Allegaert K, Holford NH (2006) Population clinical pharmacology of children: modelling covariate effects. Eur J Pediatr 165:819–829
Kappelhoff BS, van Leth F, Robinson PA, MacGregor TR, Baraldi E, Montella F, Uip DE, Thompson MA, Russell DB, Lange JM, Beijnen JH, Huitema AD, 2NN Study Group (2005) Are adverse events of nevirapine and efavirenz related to plasma concentrations? Antivir Ther 10:489–498
Lambert BL, Lin SJ, Chang KY, Gandhi SK (1999) Similarity as a risk factor in drug-name confusion errors: the look-alike (orthographic) and sound-alike (phonetic) model. Med Care 37:1214–1225
Luzuriaga K, Bryson Y, McSherry G, Robinson J, Stechenberg B, Scott G, Lamson M, Cort S, Sullivan JL (1996) Pharmacokinetics, safety, and activity of nevirapine in human immunodeficiency virus type 1-infected children. J Infect Dis 174:713–721
Max B, Mourikes N (1998) Confusion of nelfinavir and nevirapine. N Engl J Med 338:396–397
Shenton JM, Popovic M, Chen J, Masson MJ, Uetrecht JP (2005) Evidence of an immune-mediated mechanism for an idiosyncratic nevirapine-induced reaction in the female Brown Norway rat. Chem Res Toxicol 18:1799–18135
Taylor GP, Lyall EG, Back D, Ward C, Tudor-Williams G (2000) Pharmacological implications of lengthened in-utero exposure to nevirapine. Lancet 17:2134–2135
Acknowledgements
The authors sincerely thank Isabelle Brasme for her kind rereading of the manuscript.
Conflict of interest statement
No conflict of interest declared.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brasme, JF., Mille, F., Benhayoun, M. et al. Uncomplicated outcome after an accidental overdose of nevirapine in a newborn. Eur J Pediatr 167, 689–690 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-007-0541-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-007-0541-9