In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the value of interferons, especially long-acting interferons, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B: a limited course of therapy to achieve a durable response after discontinuation, without the hassle of long-term medication use. Authoritative guidelines, such as the 2012 European Hepatology Society guidelines, the 2013 UK NICE guidelines, and the 2015 Asia Pacific Hepatology Society guidelines, recommend long-acting interferon as the first-line treatment for chronic hepatitis B so that patients have a chance of a durable response or even clinical cure after discontinuation of the drug. However, some patients still have concerns of one kind or another, one of which is often cited as “fear of adverse effects,” fearing that the adverse effects of interferon may be harmful to their health. This concern is not unreasonable, but it would be a shame to give up on long-acting interferon therapy because of this. It is true that long-acting interferon is a biological agent and requires injections, so there will be more adverse reactions, but most of them will disappear after stopping the drug and will not cause any health hazards. What’s more, we have a good understanding of the adverse effects of interferon and are able to deal with them. The first step in dealing with adverse reactions is to understand the common adverse reactions to interferon and the measures to deal with them. The main adverse reactions of interferon are flu-like symptoms, usually within 2-5 hours of injection, the fever can be high or low, sometimes as high as 40 degrees Celsius, high fever can be accompanied by chills, usually in the fever 3-4 hours on its own fever. After 3-5 injections, most of the patients no longer have fever or only low fever. The fever may be accompanied by headache, muscle pain, joint pain, and weakness. Such adverse reactions may occur in more than half of the patients. Taking antipyretic and analgesic drugs such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen half an hour to one hour before the injection can prevent and reduce the symptoms of fever. You may also consider injecting interferon at night in order not to interfere with your work or life. Hematologic adverse reactions such as leukopenia, centrophilia and thrombocytopenia occur in about 20% of patients. However, such adverse reactions are not the same as what we know about true blood disorders and generally rarely cause infection or bleeding. After stopping interferon therapy, the blood picture will return to normal soon after. The only thing you need to do is to follow your doctor’s advice to check your blood picture regularly, and to reduce the amount of interferon or stop the drug if you encounter abnormal blood picture according to your doctor’s judgment. For those who have had significant adverse reactions, the treatment can be continued after the interferon has been discontinued and the blood picture has recovered. The incidence of adverse reactions in the psychiatric system is 13% to 60%. Most of them are mild and do not affect the treatment. The most common manifestations are malaise and weakness, while others include drowsiness, lack of appetite, and depression. Such symptoms may persist throughout treatment and resolve within a few days or weeks after the end of treatment. It is still important to adhere to treatment for these types of adverse reactions without giving up lightly, and to monitor them well and adjust the treatment plan if necessary according to medical advice. The incidence of adverse reactions can also be reduced by avoiding factors that increase the incidence of adverse reactions. For example, try to use long-acting interferon, as there are studies that suggest that long-acting interferon has fewer adverse reactions than regular interferon. People with a history of drug or alcohol abuse and a family history of psychiatric disorders are more likely to have neurological adverse reactions and need to be monitored more closely before applying interferon. In conclusion, most of the adverse reactions to interferon are reversible and generally recover on their own after discontinuing the drug, so patients need not worry too much. If you are aware of the common adverse reactions to interferon, monitor them, and deal with them in a timely manner under the guidance of your doctor, you will usually be able to adhere to your treatment and strive to achieve a good outcome.