Abstract
BackgroundThe development of a vaccine against hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been a major achievement in terms of prevention of HBV infection. For the present study, we analysed the long-term immunogenicity and effectiveness of HBV vaccination among healthcare students with different working seniorities.MethodsA cross-sectional study of undergraduate and postgraduate students attending the Medical School of the Second University of Naples was conducted between September 2012 and December 2014. HBV serum markers were determined and multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with the level of long-term immunogenicity.ResultsOf the 2,932 subjects evaluated, only 33 (1.1 %) declared no history of vaccination. All vaccinated subjects were HBsAg/anti-HBc negative, 459 of which had an anti-HBs titre <10 IU/L. The latter were younger, more likely to be attending a healthcare profession school (i.e., dental hygienists, nursing, paediatric nursing, radiography and midwifery) than a medical school (at either undergraduate or postgraduate level) and more likely to have been vaccinated in infancy.ConclusionThe results of this study suggest that assessment of HBV serum markers in workers potentially exposed to hospital infections is useful to identify small numbers of unvaccinated subjects or vaccinated subjects with low antibody titre, all of whom should be referred to a booster series of vaccinations.
Highlights
The development of a vaccine against hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been a major achievement in terms of prevention of HBV infection
The risk run by healthcare personnel (HCP) of contracting HBV is four times greater than that of the general adult population [3]
After obtaining informed written consent, all students visited for the first time were asked to complete a precoded questionnaire stating their age, gender, hepatitis B vaccination status, previous exposure to HBV and educational level
Summary
The development of a vaccine against hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been a major achievement in terms of prevention of HBV infection. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) can cause dreadful infectious diseases and, as such, is a major global health problem [1]. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that, globally, about 2 billion people have been infected with HBV, more than 350 million are chronically infected, and nearly one million per year die from its acute or chronic sequelae [2]. The most common routes of transmission from patients to HCP are needlestick and other sharps injuries, followed by mucocutaneous exposure [4]. The risk of transmission of the virus per needlestick injury from a patient infected with HBV is 37–62 %, among the highest risk rates for a virus [5]
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