Assessment of vaccination against hepatitis B and infection control compliance among dentists participated in 42nd international congress of Iranian dentists

Assessment of vaccination against hepatitis B and infection control compliance among dentists participated in 42nd international congress of Iranian dentists Dr. SM. Alavian* - Dr. H. Akbari ** - Dr. M. Ahmadzad asl*** - Dr. M. Kazem**** - A. Davoodi***** * - Associate Professor of Internal Medicine Dept. Faculty of Medicine, Baqyiatollah University of Medical Sciences. ** - Endodontist. *** - Medical Practitioner. **** - Resident of Endodontics Dept. Faculty of Dentistry – Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. ***** - Student of Dentistry. Background and Aim: Considering the potential role of dentists as both carriers and hosts of various infections, the goal of this study was to assess infection control compliance and particularly vaccination against hepatitis B among dentists. Materials and Methods: This pilot study was conducted in the annual congress of Iranian dentists in 2004 using an anonymous self – administered questionnaire. Response rate among congress participants was 31.75% (334 dentists). All participants were asked to answer voluntarily. Data were analyzed using SPSS 11.5 software, Fisher exact and Mann – Whitney U tests. Results: Mean age (±SE) and duration of practice in dental profession were 35.9±0.57 years and 106.9±6.4 months, respectively and 54.5% were males. Rate of routine use of gloves, facemasks and protective eye glasses were 93.1%, 87.1% and 63.8%, respectively. Female dentists showed higher protective behaviours as compared with males (P<0.05). Vaccination against HBV was reported in 94.9% of the studied subjects where as 1.5% of them had acquired immunity, however complete vaccination was done in 74.8% of dentist and only 47.9% of them were reported to be checked for HBs antibody after vaccination. There was a straight relation between vaccination against HBV and using protective methods (P<0.05). The most common reason for non – vaccination was lack of access to vaccine (58.1%). Conclusion: The rate of dentists' vaccination against HBV was at the range of other countries and almost all authors agree to encourage dentists to care more about cross – infection control. Key words: Infection control – Hepatitis B vaccination - Dentists