In recent years, due to the universal implementation of neonatal hepatitis B vaccine immunization, the incidence of chronic hepatitis B virus infection in children has been greatly reduced, chronic hepatitis B in children is also relatively rare, but it still occurs, there can also be a very small number of cirrhosis and liver cancer. If a little baby suffers from hepatitis, a family is overshadowed, while some people think that the antiviral drugs on pediatric side effects are too big, do not dare to go to the treatment, is this really the case? Why should pediatric hepatitis be treated with active antiviral therapy? The vast majority of chronic hepatitis B, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in adults begin with pediatric hepatitis B virus infection. To reduce the incidence of hepatitis B-related chronic liver disease in adults, we should “start with the baby”: emphasize neonatal vaccine immunization, manage chronically infected children, and aggressively administer antiviral therapy to children with hepatitis. Generally speaking, hepatitis B virus infection in childhood is mostly chronic carriers; in adulthood, 25% of the carriers will develop hepatitis; if left untreated, 40% of them will become cirrhosis in middle age; if cirrhosis continues to be active, 50% of cirrhosis in old age may progress to liver failure, or hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatitis does not usually occur in children, and when it does, there is a longer period (i.e., a higher chance) of chronic progressive liver disease later in life. Pediatric disease can be a lifelong health issue and should certainly be cured whenever possible. By curing pediatric hepatitis, antiviral therapy blocks a series of progressive liver diseases in adulthood; even if antiviral therapy fails to achieve a sustained effect, it may moderate the progression of disease later in life. What are the adverse effects of interferon in pediatric patients? Symptoms due to treatment: pediatric patients tolerate interferon therapy better than adults and have fewer serious adverse reactions. All adverse reactions are temporary and recover successively after discontinuation of the drug. The most common are also flu-like symptoms, most of which occur during the first injection. The next most common are behavioral changes: agitation, easy awakening, or sullen behavior. Fatigue, weakness, diarrhea, and mild hair loss are also not uncommon. Leukopenia and thrombocytopenia occur less frequently and to a lesser extent than in adults, and granulocyte deficiency and platelet deficiency are rare, although there are pediatric patients who require reduced therapy. Thyroid disease, or autoimmune disorders may occur in a small number of adults; their occurrence has not been reported in the pediatric population. Effects on height and weight: Children less than 2 years of age with interferon concerns will delay growth, and height and weight growth will be slower than in the general pediatric population during treatment, but height and weight will increase more rapidly after treatment is stopped, and even more rapidly after hepatitis is cured. Interferon does not affect growth and development in children over 2 years of age, but it is the exacerbation of hepatitis without treatment that will have an effect. Is interferon treatment effective in pediatric patients? Generally speaking, pediatric patients have different degrees of immune tolerance (medical term, meaning it is difficult to stimulate immunity) to chronic hepatitis B virus infection, inflammatory lesions are often less severe; serum viral levels are higher, and thus the overall effect rate of interferon therapy in pediatric patients is lower than that in adults. But that’s not entirely true. In recent years, we have used interferon treatment of a dozen preschool children, the youngest is only 2 years old, in addition to two people, “big triple” are converted to “small triple”, of which 6 people even “small triple” Six of them were even cleared. Maybe this is just a coincidence, we just use conventional methods, I wonder why the effect is better than adults? Can children be treated with nucleosides? Yes, it is safe to take nucleoside drugs. In Africa, there are many children with AIDS who have used Herceptin, and no important adverse reactions have been reported; in China, many hospitals have taken Herceptin for pregnant women with a high level of “triple III” infection from the 8th month of pregnancy to delivery, and no problems have been found in the newborns after birth. It is only because children under the age of 7 have not been through clinical trials, the manual does not list children as indications.