AimHepatitis B virus (HBV) is a blood-borne infectious disease. It is one of the most common causes of end-stage liver disease, including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Healthcare professionals, including medical and dental students, are at a high risk of acquiring this infection. The aim of this study was to compare and contrast the knowledge and attitudes toward HBV infection amongst doctors, dentists, nurses, and undergraduate final year medical and dental students.Subjects and methodA cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample size of 381 medical professionals, which included doctors (59), dentists (77), nurses (71), final year medical students (126), and final year dental students (48) at Combined Military Hospital Lahore Medical College and Institute of Dentistry (CMH LMC). A questionnaire comprising 27 multiple choice questions was distributed amongst the groups mentioned above. The questionnaire aimed to assess basic knowledge, attitudes towards those infected, and knowledge about vaccination against HBV.ResultsThe total response rate was 88.8% (382/430 respondents returned the questionnaire). The mean ± standard deviation (SD) score for all healthcare professionals in knowledge was 15.54 ± 3.69 and attitude were 4.67 ± 1.37, which indicated that majority of the healthcare professionals were well informed about hepatitis B and generally exhibited positive attitudes. However, results revealed that medical students lacked adequate knowledge about various aspects of HBV infection, including modes of transmission and prevention methods against the disease. On the other hand, dental students were better informed and exhibited a more positive attitude towards the disease.ConclusionAccording to the results of our study, medical students showed poor knowledge about hepatitis B disease, including its modes of transmission and the option of vaccination. Lack of knowledge contributed significantly to their negative attitudes towards those suffering from the disease, which has the potential to considerably affect the quality of patient care and the doctor-patient relationship. Major steps should be taken towards improving the curriculum followed at medical colleges in Pakistan. More emphasis should be laid on providing knowledge during early academic years and increasing the amount of clinical exposure. Frequent workshops and seminars should be organized in order to provide up-to-date knowledge about HBV infection and means of prevention to both healthcare professionals and students.

Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity. Avoiding adverse reactions requires comprehensive knowledge about how they can be monitored, controlled, and reported. Objectives: The current study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, practices, and perceptions of the health care professionals concerning the adverse drug reactions monitoring and reporting in Lahore, Pakistan. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in Lahore, Pakistan, from October 2018 to December 2018. Descriptive statistics were obtained and the Pearson chi-square test was used to analyze the association between categorical variables. Results: In total, 150 pharmacists, physicians, and nurses were approached, that 40, 39, and 46 of them responded, respectively. Almost 95% pharmacists, 17.3% of nurses, and 58.9% of physicians correctly defined the “pharmacovigilance”, while 70, 10, and 30.5%, respectively, defined ADRs correctly. The current study revealed that 87% of pharmacists, 82.5% of physicians, and 82.6% of nurses had a history of identifying ADR in patients. Out of which only 52, 41, and 19% of pharmacists, physicians, and nurses had a history of reporting adverse drug reactions, respectively. Conclusions: This study revealed inadequate knowledge of health care professionals. Most healthcare professionals were motivated to report identified ADRs. However, the responsibility lies with the governing authorities to provide them with a suitably efficient platform to practice proper ADR reporting and monitoring. Educational campaigns and training, financial incentives, and simplification of the reporting process might change the levels of knowledge and attitude.