INTRODUCTIONHepatitis B Virus (HBV) is a double-stranded, enveloped DNA virus of the Hepadnaviridae family. It is transmitted parenterally or permucosal exposure to infected blood or other body fluids. Hepatitis B is a serious infectious disease of the liver which affects millions of people worldwide. Chronic viral hepatitis is a major global public health problem, an important cause of morbidity and mortality from sequelae which include chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and primary liver cancer.1 India has intermediate endemicity of hepatitis B, with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) prevalence between 2% and 7%.2 HBV (Hepatitis B Virus) infection is an occupational hazard for health care workers and for public safety workers who have exposure to blood and blood products in the workplace and the risk of acquiring HBV infections depends on the frequency of percutaneous and ABSTRACT Background: HBV(Hepatitis B Virus) infection is an occupational hazard for health care workers and the risk of acquiring HBV infections depends on the frequency of percutaneous and permucosal exposure to blood or bloodcontaminated body fluids. Avoiding occupational blood exposure is primary preventive means for the transmission of HBV. However, the single most effective measure for the prevention of hepatitis B is active immunisation. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried among 204 medical and nursing students in second year of their course using pre-designed questionnaire comprised of questions which included age, sex, qualification, awareness, occupational risk perception & vaccination against hepatitis B infection. Results: 69.12% of the respondents knew various modes of transmission of hepatitis B. More than half (56.86%) of the respondents knew that HBV infection causes liver cancer. 79.41% of the respondents knew the correct course of action after a needle stick injury. Only 61.27% of the respondents knew that blood soaked cotton and dressings are discarded in yellow coloured bags and that sharps and needles are disposed in white coloured bags. Only 36.46% of medical students & 57.41% of nursing students were completely vaccinated. Conclusion: Considering the long-term consequences of HBV infection, the health of the study population is at risk. Preventive strategies against the diseases, especially vaccination programmes, should be developed and taken aggressively to improve the vaccination coverage among the study population.

Infection control is ac knowledge universally as a solid and essential basis towards patients" safety and support the reduction of health care association infection and their consequences.The importance of hand hygiene is universally acknowledged by organizations such as the Joint Commission, World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which recommend or require hand hygiene practices and interventions to improve hand hygiene compliance in order to reduce health care-acquired infections. 4,5 Although numerous studies have demonstrated that hand hygiene reduces health care-associated infection ABSTRACT Background: Infection control is ac knowledge universally as a solid and essential basis towards patients" safety and support the reduction of health care association infection and their consequences. Simple hand hygiene is cost effective method in preventing cross transmission of microorganism. The compliance of health providers with hand washing guidelines seems to be vital in preventing the disease transmission among patients but unfortunately hand hygiene practices have been found to be faulty in most of the health care facilities including tertiary care hospitals. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the awareness and compliance of hand hygiene among different health care providers, that includes 100 doctors, 100 nurses, 100 medical students, 50 ward boys working in different tertiary care Hospitals attached to medical colleges, in and around Hyderabad, in Telangana state (India) from April to July -2014. Knowledge was assessed using WHO hand hygiene questionnaire. Attitude and practices was evaluated by using self-structure questionnaire. A value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Only 16.5 % of participants had good knowledge regarding hand hygiene. Nurses" knowledge is better than doctors, Knowledge, attitude and practices of doctor and nurses were better than medical students and ward boys, trained staff have better knowledge on hand hygiene and effective infection control committees have some impact on hand hygiene practices Conclusion: Hand hygiene practices among health providers irrespective of public sector or private sector hospitals were found to be low. It was concluded that serious efforts are need to improve the hand hygiene practices among all health providers.

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Background: Dengue fever and Dengue Haemorrhagic fever (DF/DHF) is an acute viral disease caused by Dengue virus. The infection is transmitted by the bite of an infected female mosquito- Aedes aegypti. The Dengue virus causes significant morbidity and mortality in many parts of the world, including India, where it was first isolated in Calcutta, West Bengal during 1945. This study was conducted to know the seroprevalence of Dengue virus in a tertiary care hospital, Hyderabad Methods: Blood for serological studies are carefully collected taking due universal precautions from suspected DF/DHF cases (a) as soon as possible after hospital admission or attendance. All the patients were screened for anti-Dengue IgG and IgM antibodies By Enzyme Immunoassay. The study period was 18 months from 2012. Results: From a total of 1327serum samples tested were screened for Dengue IgM and IgG among which 706(53.2%) were positive. 125(17.7%) were only IgM positive and 198(28.05%) of the tested samples showed only IgG positive. 383(54.25%) of the tested samples revealed positive for both IgM and IgG antibodies. Conclusion: Surveillance is prerequisite for monitoring the dengue situation in the area and should be carried out regularly for early detection of an impending outbreak and to initiate timely preventive and control measures. [Int J Res Med Sci 2013; 1(4.000): 448-450