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. 2022 Jul 27;37(1):393.
doi: 10.4102/sajid.v37i1.393. eCollection 2022.

Hepatitis B vaccination coverage amongst healthcare workers in a tertiary academic hospital in Gauteng province, South Africa

Lufuno L Razwiedani  1 , Ntlogeleng M Mogale  2 , Muthuhadini P B Mawela  3
Affiliations

Hepatitis B vaccination coverage amongst healthcare workers in a tertiary academic hospital in Gauteng province, South Africa

Lufuno L Razwiedani et al. S Afr J Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major public health concern in South Africa. Hepatitis B virus is a highly infectious blood-borne virus causing liver disease. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at high risk of occupational exposure.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate HBV vaccination amongst HCWs at a tertiary academic hospital in Gauteng province, South Africa.

Method: Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from 500 consecutively sampled HCWs. Data were analysed using Stata version 12.

Results: A total of 460 HCWs participated in the study. Most were women (68.7%), < 40 years of age (66.9%) and worked for < 10 years (66.0%). Almost 50.0% were either doctors or medical students and 40.3% were nurses or student nurses. Most HCWs in the age group of < 30 years (79.4%) had received at least 1 dose of HB vaccine. Prevaccination immunity screening was conducted on 17.5% of the HCWs, and only 11.0% reported to be protected against HBV. About 49.0% of HCWs were fully vaccinated. Post-vaccination immunity testing was conducted on 15.1%, and 24.0% of HCWs paid for vaccinations. Nursing staff and those with > 10 years of work experience were 2.5 and 2.6 times more likely to be vaccinated, respectively. Cleaning staff were less likely to be vaccinated.

Conclusion: Although not all HCWs were fully vaccinated, our study found a higher proportion of fully vaccinated HCWs than previously reported in Gauteng Province. It is recommended that HB vaccination be promoted and a local vaccination policy, aligned with the national policy, be developed and implemented for all HCWs at the tertiary academic hospital.

Keywords: healthcare workers; hepatitis B vaccination policy; hepatitis B virus infection; pre-vaccination immunity screening; vaccination coverage.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Percentage of healthcare workers who received at least one dose of hepatitis B virus vaccine (n = 460).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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