Building the evidence for hepatitis B vaccination programs for students and researchers working with biological samples in Indian Institutes of Higher Education

AbstractHealth care personnel with frequent blood contact are at high risk for being exposed to and developing hepatitis B infection. Exposure to unidentified infectious patients may lead to personnel inadvertently foregoing appropriate, passive immunoprophylaxis. For these reasons, our hospital elected to conduct an aggressive program to administer hepatitis B vaccine to all employees at high risk for exposure to hepatitis B virus, thus protecting such employees from inadvertent occupational exposure. Administrators agreed to offer the vaccine as a free employee health benefit. “High-risk” employees attended mandatory inservice presentations covering hepatitis B disease, vaccine safety and efficacy, and related concerns. High-risk individuals were required to either receive vaccine or sign “informed refusal” forms. The vaccine clinic was organized to accommodate employee work schedules. Of high-risk employees eligible for vaccination, 90% completed a three-dose vaccine course. Extensive inservice education, financial and administrative support, and careful advance planning are all crucial in achieving high compliance with vaccination programs. A description of key steps in designing a successful vaccination program is outlined.

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Comparison of the implementation of human papillomavirus and hepatitis B vaccination programs in the United States: Implications for future vaccines

Vaccine ◽

10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.11.073 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 38 (5) ◽

pp. 954-962 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Catherine Constable ◽

Arthur Caplan

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Human Papillomavirus ◽

Hepatitis B ◽

The United States ◽

Hepatitis B Vaccination ◽

Vaccination Programs

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Incentives and Motivators in School-Based Hepatitis B Vaccination Programs

Journal of School Health ◽

10.1111/j.1746-1561.1997.tb03446.x ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 67 (7) ◽

pp. 265-268 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Lisa M. Unti ◽

Karin K. Coyle ◽

Bradley A. Woodruff ◽

Lynda Boyer-Chuanroong

Keyword(s):

Hepatitis B ◽

Hepatitis B Vaccination ◽

Vaccination Programs ◽

School Based

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Hepatitis B vaccination status and knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding Hepatitis B among preclinical medical students of a medical college in Nepal

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0242658 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (11) ◽

pp. e0242658

Author(s):

Dhan Bahadur Shrestha ◽

Manita Khadka ◽

Manoj Khadka ◽

Prarthana Subedi ◽

Subashchandra Pokharel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Hepatitis B ◽

Vaccination Status ◽

Hepatitis B Vaccination ◽

Vaccination Programs ◽

Medical College ◽

Attitude And Practice ◽

Preclinical Medical Students ◽

Study Participants ◽

Knowledge Attitude And Practice

Background Hepatitis B imposes a major public health problem with an increased risk of occupational exposure among unvaccinated health care workers. This study was conducted to determine the Hepatitis B vaccination status, along with the knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding Hepatitis B, among preclinical medical students of a medical college in Nepal. Materials and methods This descriptive study was conducted among preclinical students of a medical college in Kathmandu, Nepal from 6th July to 14th July 2020. The whole sampling technique was used. Data were collected using a pretested, self-administered questionnaire which was emailed to individuals and analyzed with the statistical package for social sciences version-22. Results A total of 181 students participated in the study out of 198, giving a response rate of 91.4%. Among the study participants, only 67 (37%) were fully vaccinated against Hepatitis B while 71 (39.2%) were never vaccinated. For the majority (74.6%) of the non-vaccinated participants, the main reason for not getting vaccination was a lack of vaccination programs. Half the study participants (n = 92, 50.8%) had good knowledge, attitude and practice regarding hepatitis B. The median knowledge, attitude and practice scores towards Hepatitis B were 61.00 (57.00–66.00), 20(18.00–21.00) and 21(19.00–23.00) respectively. Conclusions The majority of preclinical medical students were not fully vaccinated against Hepatitis B and only half of them had acceptable knowledge, attitude and practice towards Hepatitis B, which makes them vulnerable to the infection. This might represent the situation of not only Nepal, but also all South Asian countries, and creates concern about whether students take the vaccination programs seriously. Since unavailability of vaccination program is the main cause of non-vaccination, we strongly recommend the provision of the Hepatitis B vaccination program to the preclinical medical students.

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Hospitals' Responses to Universal Infant Hepatitis B Vaccination Recommendations

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.96.5.875 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 96 (5) ◽

pp. 875-879 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Marjorie B. Hurie ◽

Thomas N. Saari ◽

Mary E. Proctor ◽

Jeffrey P. Davis

Keyword(s):

Hepatitis B ◽

Hepatitis B Surface Antigen ◽

Univariate Analysis ◽

Hepatitis B Vaccination ◽

Test Results ◽

Vaccination Programs ◽

Hospital Size ◽

Northeastern Region ◽

Vaccination Recommendations ◽

Hep B

Objective. To assess the extent to which hospitals in a midwestern state with low acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) morbidity offered hepatitis B (Hep B) vaccine to all infants, whether offering infants Hep B vaccine was associated with hospital geographic location or size, as measured by the number of births, and how hospital staff resolved key programmatic issues. Methods. The managers of hospital newborn nurseries (N = 110) were surveyed by mail. The written response rate was 72%; all of the nonresponders were interviewed by telephone. The outcome measured was the number of hospitals offering Hep B vaccine to all infants by geographic region and hospital size. Results. Sixty-five percent of the hospitals routinely offered Hep B vaccine to all infants; these hospitals accounted for 80% of reported Wisconsin births. In univariate analysis, the decision to offer infants Hep B vaccine was associated with both hospital size and hospital location. After controlling for size, hospitals in the northeastern region were eight times more likely (relative risk, 8.21; 95% confidence interval, 1.30, 51.79) to offer infants Hep B vaccine than hospitals in the southeastern (referent) region. Regional differences in reported rates of acute HBV infection do not explain this finding, because morbidity in the northeastern region (1 per 100 000) is among the lowest in Wisconsin. Although more than 80% of hospitals with Hep B vaccination programs required written informed consent for vaccination, had standing orders for administering Hep B vaccine to infants whose mothers' hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) test results were known, and had mechanisms to notify the infants' physicians that the infants had been vaccinated, only 38% had standing orders for testing mothers whose HBsAg test results were unknown. Conclusions. Hospitals are not necessarily deterred from implementing infant Hep B vaccination programs by low community HBV morbidity. Hospitals should develop policies to assure that parturient women with unknown HBsAg status are screened and their infants are appropriately treated.

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Hepatitis B Seroepidemiology in Australia, One Decade After Universal Vaccination of Infants and Adolescents

Infectious Disorders - Drug Targets ◽

10.2174/1871526518666181001144303 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

pp. 341-347

Author(s):

Xinting Lu ◽

Helen E. Quinn ◽

Rob I. Menzies ◽

Linda Hueston ◽

Lyn Gilbert ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatitis B ◽

Hepatitis B Surface Antigen ◽

Age Groups ◽

Baseline Period ◽

Hbv Infection ◽

Vaccine Uptake ◽

Hepatitis B Vaccination ◽

Vaccination Programs ◽

Adolescent Vaccination ◽

The Impact

Background: This study assessed the impact of the staged introduction of universal infant and adolescent catch-up hepatitis B vaccination programs on the prevalence of immunity and past hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in targeted cohorts over almost a decade in Australia. Methods: We compared the prevalence of immunity in relevant cohorts of children and adolescents in repeated national serological surveys conducted in 1998-99, 2002 and 2007. Residual sera (n =2210) collected opportunistically from Australian laboratories in 2007 were tested for antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) indicating vaccine-induced immunity; sera from individuals aged 12-29 years with anti-HBs detected (n =386) were then tested for hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) to identify past hepatitis B infection. Results: In 2007, compared with the baseline period of 1998-99, anti-HBs prevalence had increased significantly in all age groups below 24 years, by more than double in target children. Prevalence of anti-HBc was zero in the 12-14 years and reduced by 71% in those aged 15-19 years. The hepatitis B vaccination protected a significant number of targeted adolescents with a modest vaccine uptake (57% to 60% nationally). Conclusion: In a setting without incentives or school entry requirements, adolescent vaccination coverage was significantly higher when delivered by school-based rather than GP-based mechanisms. A cohort of children was growing up in Australia with a high prevalence of vaccineinduced immunity against hepatitis B, providing the best opportunity for controlling HBV infection in Australia.

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