Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B Infection among Health Care Workers and the Importance of Anti HBs Testing among the Health Care Workers

Hepatitis B infection is a serious global public health problem. More than two million people have been infected with Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and approximately 400 million people are carriers of the virus. [1]. According to the World health Organisation (WHO) approximately 240 million people are chronically infected with HBV infection and more than 7,80,000 die every year due to its consequences[2]. India is considered to have intermediate level of HBV endemicity with a prevelance rate of 2-8% [3, 4]. The number of HBsAg carriers in India has been estimated to be over 50 million. Health care workers (HCWs) are at an increased risk of occupational exposure to HBV and the incidence is 24 times higher than general population. Despite potential risks, awareness and vaccine compliance is poor among the HCWS [5]. Throughout the world, millions of healthcare professionals work in health institutions and it is estimated that 600,000 to 800,000 cut and puncture injuries occur among them per year, of which approximately 50% are not registered [6]. The risk of contracting HBV by health care workers (HCWs) is four-times greater than that of general adult population [7]. The International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 10 (2017) pp. 2280-2285 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com