ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the advantages of combination therapy with interferon-alpha plus nucleoside analogue-lamivudine or HBV vaccine in children with HBeAg positive chronic hepatitis B.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 120 patients with HBeAg positive chronic hepatitis B were divided into three groups, 40 patients per group. Each group was treated with one of the following therapies respectively: Group A IFN-alpha 1b 10 MU/m2 three times per week (Tiw); Group B IFN-alpha 1b 10MU/m2 three times per week (Tiw) plus lamivudine 3 mg/kg for 6 months. Group C IFN-alpha 1b 10 MU/m2 three times per week (Tiw) plus HBV vaccine 30 microg one a month.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There was no significant difference in normalizing rate of ALT among the three groups at end of treatment. There was more significant difference in negative rate (seroconversion) of serum HBV DNA and HBeAg in group B than group A and group C (P less than 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The combination therapy of IFN-alpha 1b plus lamivudine seemed to be more effective than the therapy with IFN-alpha alone and the combination of IFN-alpha and HBV vaccine.</p>