Table 15.2.

Available treatments for chronic hepatitis B in children

Treatment	Licensing	Dose	Duration	Advantages	Disadvantages
IFNa	≥12 months	5–10 M units/m2 SC 3×/week	6 months	No resistance	Side effects
				Usable in young children	Parenteral administration
					Not for use in decompensated cirrhosis or transplantation
Lamivudine	≥3 years	3 mg/kg po once daily (max 100 mg/day)	≥1 year	Few side effects	High resistance rate
				Usable in young children
				Oral administration
Adefovir	≥12 years	10 mg po once daily	≥1 year (+6 months after HBeAG seroconversion)	Partially effective in lamivudine resistant patients
				Oral administration
Entecavir	≥16 years + Phase III (2–17 years)	0.5 mg/day once Daily (1 mg/day for Lamivudine-resistant pts)	≥1 year (+6 months after HBeAG seroconversion)	Partially effective in lamivudine resistant patients	Not approved for children < 12 years resistant mutations
				Oral administration
PeglFN	Phase III (2–18 years)	180 ug/week	6 months	No resistance	Side effects
				Once weekly administration	Parenteral administration
Telbivudine	Phase 1 (2–18 years)	600 mg/day once daily	≥1 year	Few side effects	High resistance
				Oral administration
Tenofovir	Phase III (12–17 years)	300 mg/day once daily	≥1 year	High response rate	No available preparation for young children
				No resistance identified	Reduced mineral density
				Few side effects
				Oral administration

Modified from Paganelli et al. [98]