Published in:
31-10-2023 | Hepatitis B | Letter to the Editor
Why is the functional cure rate of young children with chronic hepatitis B receiving antiviral therapy considerably high?
Authors:
Fu-Sheng Wang, Jing Li, Chao Zhang
Published in:
Hepatology International
|
Issue 1/2024
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Excerpt
Recent guidelines for the management of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) mainly recommend antiviral treatment for patients with chronic active hepatitis, in contrast to the treat-all strategy for patients with chronic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections [
1‐
3]. Approximately 95% of infants with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection at birth or during the first year of life develop CHB and may be asymptomatic for the first few decades. These patients usually receive antiviral treatment as they grow older. Current treatments, including pegylated interferon alpha (PEG-IFN-α) and/or nucleos(t)ide analogs (NAs), are effective in suppressing HBV replication, decreasing liver inflammation and fibrosis, and reducing the risk of development of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, in adult patients with CHB, it is challenging to achieve a functional cure that is defined as having been achieved upon evidence of sustained HBV DNA loss, circulating hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) loss/seroconversion, and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss after a finite course of treatment [
4]. …
