Health care workers in Pearl River Delta Area of China are not vaccinated adequately against hepatitis B: a retrospective cohort study

摘要

Health-care workers’ (HCWs) exposure to bodily fluids puts them at risk of hepatitis B virus HBV infection. This study investigated HBV vaccination practices and outcomes in HCWs and assessed postvaccination seroprotection across HCWs in different departments. A survey of HCWs in a Chinese public general hospital was carried out with a retrospective cohort of 1420 hospital HCWs (458 males and 962 females). HBV vaccination status (10-μg/dose used) was investigated in the cohort from vaccination records from the period of 1988 to 2008. Blood samples were collected and tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and HBV antibodies (anti-HBs). The overall vaccination (complete course) and HBsAg carrier rates among HCWs were 40.42?% (574/1420) and 6.13?% (87/1420), respectively. Vaccination rates differed by department, with HCWs in internal medicine (39.5?%) and emergency (42.0?%) departments having particularly low rates. The natural infection rate was 7.53?% (107/1420) among HCWs. HCWs in the department of infectious diseases (vaccination rate, 57.8?%) had the highest rate of antibody produced by natural infection (88.2?%). The vaccination rate was a disappointingly low among HCWs in Pearl River Delta Area of China. HCWs working in infectious diseases departments and technicians were at particularly likely to have been infected with HBV. A concerted effort is needed to bring vaccination rates up among Chinese HCWs in Pearl River Delta Area of southern China.