Prevalence and Vaccination Status of Hepatitis B among Healthcare Workers in Allied Hospital of Faisalabad: A Cross-Sectional Study, 2017-18

Background: The vaccination status of HCWs working in Pakistani hospitals against the hepatitis B virus is poorly known. This study aims to assess the vaccination status of hepatitis B among HCWs in Allied Hospital of Faisalabad. Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2017 to June 2018. Two groups of HCWs were included in the study. Group 1 consisted of doctors and nurses at different wards of the hospital, and group 2 included final year undergraduate and nursing students. A predesigned form was administered to record information regarding their demographic characteristics and history of vaccination. Next, about 5ml of blood was taken from each participant to check HBsAg. Data were entered and analyzed in SPSS V16.0 by descriptive statistics and the chi-square test. Results: From total 300 HCWs, 222 (74%) HCWs were female and 78 (26%) of them were male. The age of the participants was between 20-25. In addition, 135 (45%) HCWs were fully vaccinated, 36 (12%) HCWs were partially vaccinated, and 129 (43%) HCWs were never vaccinated against hepatitis B. 59.7% of vaccination cases were found in doctors followed by 49.2% and 26.9% in students and nurses, respectively. The major reason for not being vaccinated was lack of time in 93 (63.7%) HCWs. Conclusion: Despite existing recommendations and higher prevalence rates of hepatitis B in high-risk groups, about 40% of the HCWs were not vaccinated either due to unawareness or carelessness.