ISSN : 2663-2187

Evaluation of anti-HBs antibody titers in the Health-Care Workers(HCWs) of a Tertiary care Hospital, Piparia, Gujarat.

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Himani Bhardwaj Pandya, Saurabh Norris, Binda Pipaliya, Sucheta Lakhani, Tanuja Javadekar,Aditya Jain, Anshika Guru, Archi Jain
» doi: 10.48047/AFJBS.6.Si2.2024.5721-5727

Abstract

Introduction: In India only 18% of Health care workers (HCW) are vaccinated against Hepatitis B (HBV), despite of the fact that they are at the higher risk of developing infection as an occupational exposure. Present Study is intended to create awareness and screen serum AntiHBs titers among HCWs. Method: 90 HCWs were included in the study.The categories included residents (n=31), Doctors(n=23), Nursing staff (n=31) and Lab technicians (n=5). Informed consent were obtained and a standard questionnaire was filled regarding the details of their demographic, clinical and immunization status in a preformatted validated detailed proforma. 3 ml of Blood sample was collected aseptically and serum samples were tested by ELISA for AntiHBs titers. Titers lower than 10 mIU /ML were considered negative for anti-HBs. And higher than 10 mIU /ML were considered positive for anti-HBs Results: EE Out the 90 HCWs, 73 (81.1%) were completely vaccinated, and 17 (18.9%) were partially vaccinated. Among various groups of HCWs, the complete vaccination rate was highest among the Nursing staff (90.32%) followed by Lab technicians (80%), Doctors (78.26%) and Residents (74.19%). Occupation-wise comparison of anti-HBs titre in completely vaccinated health care workers revealed that 10.71% of nursing staff members and 5.34% of residents were hypo-responsive (<10 mIU/ml),100% of doctors and 100% of lab technicians were in the protective range with titre ≥10 mIU/ml. While comparing the anti-HBs titre among the partially vaccinated HCWs, it has been seen that out of 17 (18.88%) HCWs, majority of the nursing staff members (66.66%) were having titre below 10 mIU/ml followed by Residents (25%). Conclusion: The study strongly suggests regular screening for anti HBs of all the health care workers should be a mandatory protocol in all the hospitals in India, along with that regular awareness programs regarding the importance of HBV vaccination, outcome of HBV infection, prevention, handling needle stick injuries etc should be promoted and incorporated as a part of infection control strategies in India.

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