Seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus infection and associated factors among healthcare workers in northern Tanzania

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Background

Hepatitis B virus infection is a global health problem with the highest prevalence in East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of infected people, including healthcare workers are unaware of their status. This study is aimed to determining seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus infection and associated factors among healthcare workers in northern Tanzania.

Methods

This cross-sectional study included 442 healthcare workers (HCWs) from a tertiary and teaching hospital in Tanzania before the nationwide hepatitis B vaccination campaign in 2004. Questionnaire- based interviews were used to obtain detailed histories of the following: demographic characteristics; occupation risks such splash and needle stick injuries or other invasive procedure such as intravenous, intramuscular or subcutaneous injections; history of blood transfusion and surgeries, as well as HCWs’knowledge of HBV. Serological markers of HBV were done using Laborex HBsAg rapid test. Serology was done at zero months and repeated after six months ( bioscienceinternational.co.ke/rapid-test-laborex.html HBsAg Piazzale-milano-2, Italy [Accessed on November 2017]). Chi-square (χ ²) tests were used to compare proportion of HBV infection by different HCWs characteristics. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with HBV infection.

Results

A total of 450 surveys were sent out, with a 98.2% response rate. Among the 442 HCWs who answered the questionnaire, the prevalence of chronic hepatitis B virus infection was 5.7% (25/442). Only 50 (11.3%) of HCWs were aware of the HBV status. During the second HBsAg testing which was done after six months one participant sero-converted hence was excluded. Adjusted for other factors, history of blood transfusion significantly increased the odds of HBV infection (OR = 21.44, 95%CI 6.05, 76.01, p < 0.001) while HBV vaccine uptake was protective against HBV infection (OR = 0.06, 95%CI 0.02, 0.26, p < 0.001). The majority of HCWs with chronic HBV infection had poor to fare knowledge about HBV infection but this was not statistically significant when controlled for confounding.

Conclusions

Prevalence of HBV among health care workers was 5.7% which is similar to national prevalence. Although the response rate to take part in the study was good but knowledge on HBV infection among HCWs was unsatisfactory. History of blood transfusion increased risks while vaccine uptake decreased the risk of HBV infection. This study recommends continues vaccinating HCWs together with continues medical education all over the country. We also recommend documentation of vaccination evidence should be asked before employment of HCWs in order to sensitize more uptakes of vaccinations. Although we didn’t assess the use of personal protective equipment but we encourage HCWs to abide strictly on universal protections against nosocomial infections.

Related collections

Most cited references 9

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Hepatitis B vaccine knowledge and vaccination status among health care workers of Bahir Dar City Administration, Northwest Ethiopia: a cross sectional study

Gedefaw Abeje, Muluken Azage (2015)

Background Hepatitis B infection is a major public health problem in Ethiopia. Health care workers are at increased risk of acquiring hepatitis B infection due to occupational exposure. There is effective and safe vaccine against hepatitis B infection. But many health care workers in developing countries are not vaccinated. There is no study in Ethiopia that describes hepatitis B vaccine knowledge and vaccination status of health care workers. Therefore, this study was done to assess hepatitis B vaccination status and knowledge among health care workers’ of Bahir Dar city administration, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods Institution based cross sectional study design was employed from April 1 to 30, 2012. All healthcare workers who were working in Health care facilities of Bahir Dar city administration were the study populations. A total of 374 health care workers were included in the study. Simple random sampling technique was used to select eligible study participants from the list of health care workers. Self administered questionnaire was used to collect data. The completeness of questionnaires was checked every day by facilitators and principal investigators. Data were entered and analyzed with statistical package for social sciences version 16.0 software. Result In this study, 64.7% of respondents perceived their risk of acquiring hepatitis B infection very high or high. Only 52% of the respondents were knowledgeable about hepatitis B infection. In this study, only 62% of health care workers were knowledgeable about hepatitis B vaccine. From the total of 370 respondents, only 20(5.4%) reported that they took three or more doses of hepatitis B vaccine. Conclusion Hepatitis B vaccination status of health care workers in the study area was low. Health care workers’ knowledge about hepatitis B infection and hepatitis B vaccine was also low as all health care workers should be knowledgeable.

0 comments Cited 49 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Hepatitis B infection awareness, vaccine perceptions and uptake, and serological profile of a group of health care workers in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Henri Tatsilong, Jean Jacques N. Noubiap, Jobert Nansseu … (2016)

Background Cameroon is one of the countries in Africa with the highest burden of Hepatitis B infection. Health care workers are known to be at risk of occupational exposure to blood and other infectious bodily fluids. The aim of this study was to assess the profile of serological markers of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, knowledge and perceptions regarding HBV infection among health care workers in a health area in Yaoundé. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Mvog-Ada Health Area of the Djoungolo Health District from March 1 to November 31, 2014. All consenting health care workers were included in the study. Serological markers of HBV (HBs Ag, Hbe Ag, anti-HBs Ab, anti-HBe Ab, anti-HBc Ab) were qualitatively tested using Biotech®(OneHBV-5 parameter rapid test website) in each participant and the anti-HBs antibodies were quantified by ELISA (Biorex) among those who were positive with the qualitative test. Chi square test or its equivalents were used to compare qualitative variables and a p-value less than or equal to 0.05 was considered significant. Result A total of 100 participants were retained for the study out of 163 in the health area giving a response rate of 61.34 %; the mean age was 30.5 (SD 6.8) years and 71 % of participants were women. Forty seven percent (47 %) of workers had good level of knowledge of HBV infection. The men were 3.20 times (95 % CI: 1.02–9.19, p = 0.04) more likely to have a good level of knowledge than women. Participants with a university study level were more (95 % CI: 3.17–25, p < 0.0001) likely to have a good level of knowledge than those with a high school study level. Ninety-six percent of participants thought that they were at a greater risk of becoming infected with HBV than the general population, 93 % felt that the vaccine should be compulsory and all (100 %) were willing to recommend it to others. However, only 19 % had received at least one dose of the vaccine. The proportion of HBs Ag was 11 %. The different serological profiles with regard to HBV infection were naive subjects (62 %), chronic carriers (11 %), vaccinated (19 %) and subjects naturally immunized (8 %). Three out of the 19 participants who received at least one dose of the vaccine, only 9 (47.4 %) of whom had titers ≥100 IU/l indicating a good response to vaccination. Among those who received three doses of the vaccine (n = 12, 63 %), 2 (16, 66 %) had poor response to vaccination (HBs Ab titers < 100 IU/l). Conclusion The prevalence of HBs Ag among health care workers in the Mvog-Ada Health Area is high (11 %). These workers are at high risk of HBV infection because of very low vaccine uptake and poor post-exposure practices. Their knowledge of HBV infection is non-optimal.

0 comments Cited 28 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Protecting health workers from nosocomial Hepatitis B infections: A review of strategies and challenges for implementation of Hepatitis B vaccination among health workers in Sub-Saharan Africa

Bridget A. Malewezi, Saad B Omer, Beatrice Mwagomba … (2016)

The Sub-Saharan region has the highest Hepatitis B virus (HBV) rates, and health workers are at an increased risk of contracting nosocomial HBV infection. Vaccination of health workers plays a critical role in protecting them from sequelae of HBV; however, health-worker vaccination remains a challenge for many countries. This study was conducted to review practices/measures and challenges in the Sub-Saharan region relating to vaccination of health workers against HBV. We performed a literature review of articles addressing any aspect of HBV vaccination of health workers in the Sub-Saharan region sourced from PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science, including a case study of Malawi policies and strategies in training institutions and facilities. Our findings indicated that HBV awareness and vaccination were relatively high, but vaccination rates were lower, with 4.6–64.4% of those “ever vaccinated” completing the vaccination regimen. There was also great variation in the proportion of health workers exhibiting natural immunity from previous exposure (positive for anti-Hepatitis B core antibodies; 41–92%). Commonly cited reasons for non-uptake of vaccine included cost, lack of awareness of vaccine availability, and inadequate information concerning the vaccine. Countries in this region will require locally relevant data to develop cost-effective strategies that maximize the benefit to their health workers due to the great diversity of HBV epidemiology in the region.

0 comments Cited 23 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Contributors

Elichilia R. Shao: elichilia2004@yahoo.co.uk

Innocent B. Mboya: mboyaI@yahoo.co.uk

Daniel W. Gunda: drgunda77@gmail.com

Flora G. Ruhangisa: fruhangisa@gmail.com

Elizabeth M. Temu: elizama@gmail.com

Mercy L. Nkwama: mercynkwama23@gmail.com

Jeremia J. Pyuza: jpyuza@gmail.com

Kajiru G. Kilonzo: gkilionzo@gmail.com

Furaha S. Lyamuya: lyamuyaf@gmail.com

Venance P. Maro: venmaro@gmail.com

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): BMC Infect Dis

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): BMC Infect. Dis

Title: BMC Infectious Diseases

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 1471-2334

Publication date (Electronic): 21 September 2018

Publication date PMC-release: 21 September 2018

Publication date Collection: 2018

Volume: 18

Electronic Location Identifier: 474

Affiliations

[1 ]Internal Medicine Department, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, P.O.Box3010, Moshi, United Republic of Tanzania

[2 ]ISNI 0000 0004 0648 0439, GRID grid.412898.e, Institute of Public Health, Community Health Department, , Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College, ; P.O.Box2240, Moshi, Tanzania

[3 ]ISNI 0000 0004 0451 3858, GRID grid.411961.a, CUHAS, ; P.O.Box 1370, Mwanza, Tanzania

[4 ]Better Human Health Foundation, P.O.Box1348, Moshi, Tanzania

[5 ]Imagedoctors International, P.O.Box16341, Arusha, Tanzania

Article

Publisher ID: 3376

DOI: 10.1186/s12879-018-3376-2

PMC ID: 6151054

PubMed ID: 30241503

SO-VID: dfeb7635-dbef-4fb4-a442-e1d28f10a2e9

License:

Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.