Assessment of Hepatitis B Vaccination Status and Associated Factors among Healthcare Workers in Bosaso, Puntland, Somalia 2020

Abstract

Introduction. Hepatitis B virus disease is a viral infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV), which is a major public health problem worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate, two billion people worldwide have serologic evidence of past or present HBV infection. The risk of infection is high among health professionals due to the risk of occupational contact with fluids of infected patients and the risk of needle stick injury. This study is aimed at assessing HBV vaccination coverage and reasons for possible defiance of the vaccine among healthcare workers in Bosaso, Somalia. Methodology. An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted by using a quantitative approach to identify hepatitis B virus vaccination coverage and reasons for vaccine defiance in Bosaso from September 2020 to November 2020. Healthcare workers (HCWs) in Bosaso city both in public and private health facilities who accepted to participate in this study were interviewed by using a structured questionnaire, and SPSS was used to analyze the collected data. Results. We found that only (16.4%) of HCWs were fully vaccinated. The main reasons for not taking the vaccine by the participants were the unavailability of the vaccine (42%), high vaccine cost (28.7%), lack of time (20.7%), and fear of vaccine side effects (7.5%). The majority (69.7%) of HCWs demonstrated good knowledge about HBV infection. The vaccination uptake was significantly higher among midwives ( p = 0.02 ; OR = 1.21 ; 95 % CI = 1.39 − 67.41 ) and individuals aged under 30 years ( p = 0.03 ; OR = 8.6 ; 95 % CI = 1.17 – 63.26 ). Conclusion. Our study revealed that vaccination coverage of HCWs in Bosaso was very low because of the unavailability of vaccines, high cost of the vaccine, lack of time, and fear of vaccine side effects. Therefore, the development and implementation of policies related to HBV vaccination are recommended.

Low Uptake of Hepatitis B Vaccination among Healthcare Workers in Primary Health Facilities in Mwanza Region, North-western, Tanzania

“…Therefore, it is important that the ministry of health consider HBV vaccine supply throughout lower and higher levels of facilities in order to increase uptake in these disadvantaged facilities. However, the findings are quite similar to the study conducted in Somalia where only 56% of HCWs had received HBV vaccine with very low completion rate of 16.6% (17). This shows that HCWs need to be sensitized more on vaccine completion because most of them showed higher noncompletion status.…”

A multi-centre cross-sectional study on hepatitis B vaccination coverage and associated factors among personnel working in health facilities in Kumasi, Ghana

“…Still, finding from this current study is higher than what was observed by other studies in Africa. For instance, complete vaccination coverage (≥ 3 doses) was reported by Biset AM & Adugna HB, 2017 to be 28.7% in Ethiopia [33], 24.5% in Cameroon by Noubiap et al ., 2014 [34], 16.4% in Somalia by Hussein et al [35], 12.9% in Ethiopia by Abebaw et al [36] and 10.9% in Burkina Faso by Ouédraogo et al [37]. This brings to the fore, the generally low vaccination coverage in Ghana and African at large [38,39].…”

“…Adugna HB, 2017 to be 28.7% in Ethiopia[33], 24.5% in Cameroon byNoubiap et al, 2014 [34], 16.4% in Somalia by Hussein et al[35], 12.9% in Ethiopia by Abebaw et al[36] …”

Assessment of hepatitis B vaccination status and hepatitis B surface antibody titres among health care workers in selected public health hospitals in Kenya

“…Chronically infected persons are the main reservoirs of HBV which is harbored in their blood and other body fluids like saliva, semen, vaginal secretions and tears with concentrations of HBV deoxyribonucleic acid being high in blood or serous exudates compared to mucosal secretions. Transmission is mainly through sexual intercourse, parenteral contact or mother to child during birth, depending on epidemiological patterns within geographical areas [ 3 , 6 ].…”

“…The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 2 billion people worldwide have serological evidence of HBV infection, and that this illness causes 1 million deaths annually. Approximately 257 million people are chronically infected with majority residing in low and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa [1][2][3][4]. In Kenya, studies have reported Hepatitis B surface antigen prevalence rate ranging from 5% to 30% in the general population [5].…”