Hepatitis B vaccination status among healthcare workers in a tertiary care hospital in Haldwani City of Nainital, Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) have a high risk of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The prevalence of HBV among HCWs in hospitals in developing countries is high. However, the vaccination status of these workers in hospitals in Haldwani city is not well documented. Objectives: The aim was to assess the hepatitis B vaccination status among HCWs in a tertiary care hospital in Haldwani city of Nainital, Uttarakhand, India. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 367 HCWs were randomly selected. Information pertaining to demographic and vaccination status was collected by interviewing them with the help of predesigned and pretested interview schedule. Result: The overall proportions of complete, incomplete and unvaccinated respondents with hepatitis B vaccine were 48.5%, 21.8%, and 29.7% respectively. In relation to designation of respondents, 35 (53.8%), 65 (77.4%), 61 (51.7%), 12 (40.0%) and 5 (7.2%) of respondents who were residents, interns, nurses, technicians and nursing attendants respectively had received Hepatitis B vaccination as against those who had partially received and not received vaccination and this differences were statistically significant. The most common reason for acceptance of vaccine was protection against Hepatitis-B infection (39.9%) and the commonest reason for not getting vaccinated was negligence (43.1%) Conclusion: These results conclude that because of low immunization coverage, HCWs are at greater risk of getting Hepatitis B infection at the hospital.