Knowledge of HBV Risks and Hepatitis B Vaccination Status Among Health Care Workers at Khartoum and Omdurman Teaching Hospitals of Khartoum State in Sudan

Abstract

HBV infection is notorious and is endemic in Sudan. Health care workers are at particular increased risk for the infection. Their knowledge and acceptance of vaccination against the virus is of at most importance for the control of the disease. Objective: To study the knowledge and vaccination status among health care workers in some central hospitals in Sudan. Methodology: Data from different categories of health workers were collected using structure questionnaire after taking informed consent. Data were analyzed using Chi-Square and T-Test. Results: Around 96.22% of surgeons knew their increased risk for infection, and 71.69% of them knew vaccine prevention. The overall screening for the virus was 32.2%. Only 26.19% of those who received the vaccination had completed the doses. None vaccination due to a none specified cause was the main reason among doctors and nurses. Knowledge about risk and vaccination was very low among cleaning staff and none of them had vaccination. Conclusion:Although knowledge about HBV risk in our health care workers was reasonable -apart from cleaning staff-, the vaccination among them was not satisfactory. Efforts have to be augmented and special care for cleaning staff is mandatory.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of hepatitis (B) among healthcare workers in relation to their vaccination status in Khartoum, Sudan, 2015: a cross-sectional study

“…However, compared to a previous study published in 2011 [11], there was a significant improvement in the vaccination status among HCWs; 26.19% in the previous study compared with 72.6% in the present study.…”

“…Our study showed that the majority of respondents who do not wear gloves when they are dealing with patients were doctors (representing 12.6% out of the total number of doctors), which is similar to a study carried out in Wad Madani-Sudan [11]. That study showed that 10.4% of doctors did not wear gloves when they deal with patients, and this is a dangerous indicator of careless practice towards this disease.…”

“…Worldwide, many studies have been conducted to assess the level of the knowledge, attitude, and practice of HCWs toward HBV, and others have evaluated the vaccination status of HCWs [9][10][11]14]. Previous studies conducted in Sudan have addressed these two issues; some were conducted in public hospitals outside the capital (Khartoum) and those conducted inside the capital were limited to few hospitals [9][10][11].…”

A systematic review and meta-analysis on the prevalence of HBsAg in health care workers from Eastern mediterranean and Middle Eastern Countries

“…High (Yemen and Sudan) or low (Saudi Arabia or Turkey) prevalence of HBsAg may refers to equity in access to health care in some EMRO/Middle East countries. For example, one study showed that the status of Hepatitis B vaccination wasn't acceptable between a group of HCWs in Sudan and only less than one third of them had received all doses of vaccine,[94] while the other study in Saudi Arabia revealed that more than 70% of HCWs received HBV vaccine. [95]…”

Current Status and Future Outlook on Occupational Health and Safety Research in Sudan: A Concise Review

“…Hence, Sudanese healthcare professionals are no exception when it comes to exposure to the common medical OHS hazards. Gadour and Abdullah [34] investigated the level of knowledge on the hepatitis B virus (HBV) among health care workers in public teaching hospitals in Khartoum, Sudan. The findings revealed that workers had very high knowledge about HBV, although the study observed that low levels of immunity against the virus existed among the staff.…”