Efficacy of interferon alpha-2b and lamivudine therapy for chronic hepatitis B in children.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of interferon (IFN) alpha-2b and lamivudine therapy in children with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. METHOD: Ten children who developed chronic hepatitis B infection received IFN alpha-2b 10 million international units (IU)/m(2) body surface area, subcutaneously three times a week for six months. IFN + lamivudine therapy began to be used in the cases who were unresponsive to IFN treatment. RESULTS: Among 27 HBsAg (+) subjects in this study, interferon treatment was given to 11 subjects who developed chronic hepatitis. One case was excluded from the study due to detection of Herpes type 1 encephalitis. At the end of six months of follow-up, complete response was obtained in three (30%) patients and partial response in four (40%) patients, whereas no response was detected in three (30%) patients. Fifty percent of the cases experienced serological response, 70% biochemical response, and all (100%) had histological response. In three cases started concomitant IFN + lamivudine therapy, HBV-DNA became negative at the second month of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: IFN-alpha and lamivudine can be used for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection in children.