Baseline Anti-HBs Antibody Titre in Health Care Workers in a Tertiary Health Care Centre in Faridabad, India

Abstract

Introduction: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at a high risk of acquiring hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection through occupational exposure which is preventable through hepatitis B vaccination. Aims: Therefore, we aim to establish the seroprevalence of anti-Hepatitis B surface (anti-HBs) antibody in the HCWs in a tertiary care setup to assess the level of protection that workers in these high-risk zones have. Methods and Material: Serum specimens from participants were tested at the Microbiology laboratory of ESIC Medical College & Hospital, Faridabad. Three ml of venous blood was collected aseptically in a vacutainer. The serum anti-HBs titre was detected by Enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) using the Monolisa Anti-HBs PLUS (Bio-Rad) as per manufacturer’s instruction. Results: Of the 218 HCWs included, 145 (66.51%) were vaccinated, and 73 (33.49%) were unvaccinated. HCWs were grouped into five categories which comprise doctors from all disciplines (n=53), nursing staff (n=50), technicians (n=52), nursing orderly (NO) (n=34),and housekeeping (n=29). Among various groups of HCWs, the vaccination rate was highest among doctors (96.23%) than the other groups. While comparing the anti-HBs titre among the unvaccinated HCWs, it has been seen that out of 73 (33.49%) HCWs, majority of the NO (76.47%) were having titre below 10 mIU/ml followed by housekeeping (73.68%), technicians (70.58%), and nursing staff (33.33%). Conclusions: All HCWs should be regularly screened for HBs antigen along with administration of a booster dose and monitoring of anti-HBs titre.