Sub-theme: secondary-effects of both drug regimens
vomiting, diarrhea, appetite
ADVERSE EVENTS, ADVERSE EFFECTS
Both mothers and health care providers reported that the bitter AZT/3CT suspension tablet was not palatable for the children, who would often spit the medicine. Other adverse effects such as vomiting, and diarrhea were reported by several mothers with the three drug prophylaxis without specifying which drug was involved.“The triple drug caused diarrhea and vomiting on my baby, it never used to stop. Most cases when a baby is small people will just say its normal for a baby to have diarrhea and I [also had that] thinking it was normal, but the moment the drug was changed, the diarrhea ended.” (Mother 27 yrs; FGD)Mothers would run out of tablets of AZT/3TC tablets before nevirapine oral suspension because of having to prepare the extra dose more than once. Some mothers reported that it was challenging to refill the medication earlier than expected because of difficulties in getting to the clinic or because of bad reception by the staff. They preferred to wait until the next appointment and only give nevirapine in the meantime.Fewer adverse events were reported with lamivudine compared to three drug prophylaxis. In addition, lamivudine oral solution’s sweet taste, increased its acceptability. Mothers observed that the lamivudine increased the baby’s appetite. It was considered an advantage by most of them because the babies gained weight and were therefore considered healthy in the community.“Most of the times, my baby looked very healthy because of lamivudine and it made her have more appetite even if she was not feeling well, she would still eat and suck a lot.” (Mother 39 yrs; FGD)