Prevalence of hepatitis B markers in occupational health nurses.

A seroprevalence study was undertaken at the 14th Annual Conference of the Occupational Health Nurses Association of Ontario. A total of 151 self-selected registrants (33%) provided demographic, health, and occupational information. Blood was drawn for hepatitis B serology (hepatitis B surface antigen, core antibody, and surface antibody). Vaccine-induced seropositivity was found in 11 persons (7.3%) while naturally occurring markers were present in 13 nurses (8.6%). This exceeds the natural prevalence of markers in Canada (4% to 6%) but is less than that seen in emergency and renal dialysis nurses. It implies that occupational health nurses are at less risk for hepatitis B virus infection than their acute care hospital colleagues.