It is important to point out that the kind of side effects seen on the show today are very unusual and were also written for a television show to dramatize the points the show was looking to bring out. Most patients who take AZT, both adults and children, have very few side effects, and these side effects don't impact their ability to carry out their every day life. Common side effects are easily managed by the patient and the patients often develop some tolerance to them. In other words, they become used to the side effects. I believe there were three or four other medications that the child was taking.
Combinations have different kinds of side effects.
The side effects seen on the show are rare for patients who take AZT or for patients who take a combination of medications. I'd have to say, yes he will. But the hope is that the therapies that are being developed now and in the next decade will be able to extend his life longer. So, there's always hope that HIV will not kill the child. There's tiredness, weakness, nausea, diarrhea and a rash, and if the child or adult develops these, often within a short period of time, their bodies get used to the medication and these side effects will go away.