Tolerability of postexposure prophylaxis with zidovudine, lamivudine, and nelfinavir for human immunodeficiency virus infection

Tolerability of the combination of zidovudine, lamivudine, and nelfinavir used as postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) for HIV infection was prospectively evaluated among 185 patients at 11 hospitals in eastern France. After exclusion of the 106 persons who discontinued PEP either because the source patient subsequently tested HIV seronegative or because the injury was reassessed as resulting in a low risk for transmission of HIV, 67 (85%) of the patients who received such PEP experienced adverse effects, which led to withdrawal of nelfinavir in 28 (35%) of these patients.