Hepatitis B vaccination rates among medical personnel at Ain Shams University Hospital and obstacles to vaccine uptake

ABSTRACT

The current study included 1426 medical personnel working at Ain Shams University hospitals selected randomly; 354 staff members, 679 junior doctors [residents and internships] and 393 nurses. The overall vaccination coverage with at least one dose of HB vaccine was 40.6%. The overall coverage with 3 doses of HB vaccine was 29.1%. The mean number of working years was higher among the vaccinated group. More than 55% of personnel who had direct exposure or contact with blood were not vaccinated. HB vaccine uptake was conducted at the work place by 65.6% of vaccinated personnel and about 50% received the vaccine recently, i.e. less than one year. The side effects experienced by vaccinated subjects were local pain [5.4%] and headache [0.7%]. About 38% of included personnel were not sure about the effectiveness of HB vaccine, and 47% do not know exactly the duration of vaccine validity. The current price of the vaccine was unaffordable as stated by 60.9% of subjects and 95.2% concluded that the vaccine should be funded. It was recommended that the work place is the best place for HB vaccine uptake by 80.9% of subjects and the vaccine should be obligatory for all medical personnel by 84.3% of subjects: