Risk of Exposure, Perception and Vaccination Status of Chronic Viral Hepatitis among Health Care Workers in Benue State, North Central Nigeria

Health care workers are high-risk group for contracting hepatitis B and C virus infections. Hepatitis B and C can be contracted in the hospital setting by needle prick injury, contact with blood (and body fluids) and during invasive medical procedures. This study aims to assess the risk of exposure, the concern or perception of healthcare workers about getting infected (with HBV and/or HCV) from the workplace and the level of HBV vaccination uptake among them. The study was carried out during a capacity building workshop organized for health care workers from all the Local Government Areas in Benue State. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 168 participants in attendance, after obtaining verbal consent. One hundred and thirty-eight (138) questionnaires were properly filled and returned, 115 (83.3%) have had needle prick injury, 127 (92%) have had blood spilling on them and 118 (85.5%) have been involved in the management of hepatitis patients. One hundred and nineteen (86.2%) were afraid of contracting hepatitis infection from their place of work, 133 (96.4%) were aware of hepatitis B vaccine for adult, 87 (63%) had received at least one dose of hepatitis B vaccine but only 56 (40.6%) received the complete three doses. Health care workers in Benue State are aware of the risk of contracting viral hepatitis at their workplace and are concerned about this risk. However, the uptake of hepatitis B vaccination among them remains poor.

Occupational Hazards to Doctors: Types, Distribution and Outcomes

Background: The different types of hazards to which doctors are exposed in the hospitals need to be identified and eradicated.Objective: To study the awareness among doctors about the occupational hazards and the preventive measures that are taken.Materials and Methods: The sample size was 200, selected by convenient non-probability technique. The study was conducted inAyub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad from 2nd March 2019 to 3rd June 2020. Data was collected via questionnaires and thenanalyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences 21. House Officers, Post graduate residents, and Trainee Registrarswere included in the study.Results: Most frequent hazard recorded was needle prick injury (52.5%), followed by workload/stress/exhaustion (42.5%). Studyalso showed that only half of doctors (52.3%) were using preventive measures of different kinds like gloves, masks, standardoperating procedures etc., rest (47.7%) didn't use them. Almost half (48.1%) of the doctors didn't report the hazards to theadministration and even if they did, proper response was not given to address their problem.Conclusion: Most common occupational hazards were found to be needle prick injury and exhaustion, and they were moreprevalent among the doctors of surgery department. Consequently, doctors aren't able to perform their duties properly. Moreover,the hazards remained unreported both from doctors' and hospital administration's side.Keywords: Hazards, Injuries, Awareness