More than 360 million persons worldwide (6% of the world population) are chronically infected by the hepatitis B virus (HBV).
Although the incidence of HBV infection has dramatically declined since the implementation of universal immunization programs in several countries and blood-donor screening, a significant number of children are still infected each year, often developing chronic infection and requiring appropriate follow-up [1]. Despite a rather benign course of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) during childhood and adolescence, 3–5% and 0.01–0.03% of chronic carriers develop cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), respectively, before adulthood [2,3].