Awareness and frequency of hepatitis B vaccination in high-risk health care workers at a tertiary care hospital

ABSTRACT

To assess awareness of high risk health care workers about being at risk for contracting hepatitis B and importance of vaccination for them and to determine effectiveness of hepatitis B vaccination amongst them. A cross-sectional study was carried out at Combined Military Hospital, Kharian cantonment from August 2009 to July 2010. Two hundred high-risk health care workers were selected by convenience sampling. Anti-HBs titers were checked to see the effectiveness of vaccination. A questionnaire was administered to record frequency of vaccination, immunity status and their awareness of high risk and protective role of hepatitis B vaccination. Of the 200 participants, 125 [62.5%] were aware of being at high risk for acquiring HBV infection and protective role of vaccine against it. One hundred and six [53%] persons had received vaccination against hepatitis B. Among vaccinated, 87 [43.5%] had protective levels of Anti-HBs titers while 19 [9.5%] had undetectable titers. Nineteen [9.5%] remained unvaccinated despite being aware. A significant proportion of high-risk health care workers lack awareness, vaccination, or immunization against hepatitis B