Chronic hepatitis B is caused by viral infection, and antiviral is the root of treatment. The short-term goal is to maximize the inhibition of viral replication, protect liver cells, and stabilize liver function, while the long-term goal is to reduce the occurrence of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma and improve the patient’s work and quality of life. Chronic hepatitis B patients with elevated serum aminotransferases and positive virological tests are antiviral indications. However, because of the long and costly course of antiviral therapy, patients need to make their own choices about whether to receive antiviral therapy and which antiviral drug to use. There are two main categories of antiviral drugs recognized as effective, one is alpha-interferon and the other is nucleoside (acid) analogs. The advantages of interferon are that it has a wide range of pharmacological effects, including anti-fibrosis, anti-tumor and immunomodulatory effects in addition to antiviral, and the possibility of conversion from “major triple-positive” to “minor triple-positive” is higher than that of nucleoside (acid) analogs. The disadvantages are that the indications are relatively narrow, and patients with autoimmune diseases (such as diabetes, hyperthyroidism, etc.), epilepsy, psychosis or family history of psychosis, as well as patients with intermediate or advanced cirrhosis cannot use them, otherwise they will aggravate the above diseases; there are relatively many side effects, such as fever, fatigue, headache and limb pain at the beginning of treatment, and temporary decrease of platelets and white blood cells may occur with long-term use. The drug needs to be injected subcutaneously or intramuscularly, and the drug needs to be stored under refrigeration. Interferon can be divided into regular interferon and long-acting pegylated interferon. Regular interferon is injected every other day, while pegylated interferon is injected once a week, and the course of treatment is six months to a year. The advantages of nucleoside (acid) analogs are that they have a broader indication, no significant toxic side effects, 1 tablet per day, easy to take orally, reliable antiviral action, and the drug does not require refrigeration for storage. The disadvantages are that the pharmacological effect is relatively single, some drugs may produce viral resistance phenomenon in long-term use, can not just stop the drug, the course of treatment is uncertain (generally need 2 ~ 3 years or more). At present, the clinical application of such drugs in China include lamivudine, adefovir, entecavir and telbivudine. These drugs are developing rapidly, and new drugs will continue to appear in the near future, giving patients more choices. The following factors should be taken into account when deciding whether or not to receive antiviral therapy and which antiviral drug to use: 1. the source of drug costs and whether the family’s financial strength can guarantee the completion of a full course of treatment? 2. Interferon needs to be refrigerated and administered by injection. Do you have preservation conditions? The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you have the right amount of money. 3. Do you need to get married in the short term? Because antivirals are teratogenic and may cause fetal malformations, you should not have children during treatment. 4.Can you tolerate the possible toxic side effects of the drugs (mainly interferon)? 5.How much do you agree on the cost effectiveness of the drugs (i.e., the ratio of efficacy to cost)? Some drugs are expensive but effective, can you accept and recognize this cost performance? For the above two categories of drugs, patients should choose according to their respective situations. For patients with a long medical history, a family history of liver cancer and no contraindications to interferon use, it is best to receive a course of interferon therapy to reduce the incidence of liver cancer. Patients who cannot or cannot conveniently use interferon, or who have used it but with poor efficacy should opt for nucleoside (acid) analogs. Combination of interferon and nucleoside analogs is not recommended at present because it does not improve the efficacy. The use of nucleoside analogues in children is not advocated to avoid the potential harm that the drugs may cause to the child’s growth and development.