Hepatitis B vaccination and serology among health personnel in a municipality in the Recôncavo Baiano, Brazil, 2019.

INTRODUCTION

Health personnel are more susceptible to contamination by the hepatitis B virus due to occupational risk and need special care. Previous studies have found, however, that not all health personnel were fully vaccinated against hepatitis B, as recommended by the Ministry of Health.

OBJECTIVES

To analyze the factors associated with full hepatitis B vaccination and to evaluate post-vaccination serological response among health personnel.

METHODS

Cross-sectional study, conducted in the municipality of Santo Antônio de Jesus, Bahia, Brazil. The sample consisted of 453 health personnel from primary and medium-complex care.

RESULTS

The prevalence of full hepatitis B vaccination among health personnel was 56.9%. The variables associated with the prevalence of complete hepatitis B vaccination in the final analysis model were: working in primary health care (prevalence ratio = 1.31; 95% CI 1.04-1.65) and medicine preparation or administration (prevalence ratio = 3.53; 95% CI 2.17-5.74). Around 72% of those who reported being shot with all three doses of the hepatitis B vaccine had been tested for circulating antibodies in their blood and 88.4% were immune to the hepatitis B virus.

CONCLUSIONS

The familiarity provided by routine primary health care and the awareness of occupational risk was associated with beter adherence to the hepatitis B vaccine schedule among health personnel. Nearly a third of those who were shot with the three doses of hepatitis B vaccine were not immunized, reinforcing the need for anti-HBs testing.