Vaccination status and Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B surface Antigen among Health Care Workers in Taiz, Yemen Republic

Abstract

Background: Exposure to Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one of the most common occupational diseases among the providers of the health care services. During the course of their clinical work; Health Care Workers (HCWs) are at risk of acquitting HBV infection or transmitting it to their patients. Vaccination for medical personnel against HBV in Yemen Republic is recommended but not strictly enforced. Detection of the viral hepatitis B surface antigens (HBsAg) is one of the accurate and cheap methods to assess HBV prevalence. This method is used in this study to assess HBV prevalence among HCWs in Taiz; to in order to improve on methods of interventions to control this infection among them. Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the vaccination status and the seroprevalence of HBsAg among HCWs in Taiz; Yemen republic. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted through the period between January and March, 2018, and from April and July, 2019, in the part of Taiz City; Yemen Republic belonging to legitimate authorities. 362 HCWs were included in this study and are selected through repeated casual visits to hospitals and medical centers. A questioner was made to get information on the participants’ characteristics and their vaccination status, medical hestory and risk factors for HBV transmission. Five ml venous blood was then collected from every participant to assess HBsAg. Results: the overall vaccination percentage was 21.54% (27.5% in male and 17.9% of female). The seroprevalence of HBsAg was 2.76%, all vaccinated participants were HBsAg negative. Needle stick and sharp object injury was an important risk factor of HBV infection.