[Chronic infection due to hepatitis B virus in patients less than 16 years of age: therapeutic approach by means of interferon alfa-2b].

Twenty children with chronic Hepatitis B virus infection where treated with alfa interferon 2b and compared with a group of 24 non treated patients with similar age and sex distribution. Both treated and untreated patients, all Hepatitis B surface antigen positive for a minimum of 6 months, were divided in 2 groups according to HBeAg status: positive and negative. The treatment was ambulatory at a dose of 5.000.000 U per square meter of body surface, administered 3 times a week during 16 weeks. Tolerance of the drug was good with secondary reactions only at the beginning of the treatment. The only change in laboratory tests was the normalization of aminotransferases in HBeAg positive children. There was no significant difference between the treated and untreated group of HBeAg positive patients regarding the rate of HBeAg seroconversion. There was a striking difference in negativization of HBsAg in HBeAg negative patients: 8% in the treated group and 81% in the untreated group, this is explained by important epidemiological differences between both groups.