Prolonged interferon alpha treatment in children with chronic hepatitis B

Interferon alpha has been used widely to treat hepatitis B virus infection in children. However, the overall initial response rates have been <50% and several strategies have been attempted to improve this. The aim of this st udy was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of prolonged interferon <alpha> treatment in children who did not respond to a previous course of interfer on alpha treatment. Twenty-seven children with chronic hepatitis B who had not responded to a 6-month course of interferon alpha 2a (5 MU/m(2) body su rface) thrice weekly subcutaneously continued to receive interferon aat the same dosage for another 6 months without a rest phase. The children were f ollowed for 6 months after completing 12 months of therapy. All of them had HBsAg, HBV-DNA and HBeAg tested on completion of the first course. Six of the 27 (22.2%) cleared both HBV-DNA and HBeAg after completion of therapy a nd all six had a sustained response. Pre-treatment predictive factors were not significantly associated with treatment response. No adverse effect of interferon was seen during follow-up. We conclude that prolonged interferon treatment is well tolerated and leads to additional benefit.