Hepatitis B Awareness among Medical Students and Their Vaccination Status at Syrian Private University

Abstract

Background. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a potentially life-threating infection and a well-recognized occupational hazard for healthcare workers including medical students. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Syrian Private University (SPU), Faculty of Medicine, to assess the knowledge and awareness about hepatitis B, the status of hepatitis B vaccination, and the reasons for not getting vaccinated among the first-and the fifth-year medical students. Results. The present study demonstrates surprising results and raises issues about the high number of medical students that are not vaccinated or not sure about their vaccination status, which puts them at a higher risk of being infected in the future. Another important issue is the medical students' overall knowledge about this life-threating infection. The students have not been totally educated about the gravity of the situation which requires the need of further HBV education. It is highly recommended that SPU provides the HBV vaccine to all nonvaccinated students attending the faculty of medicine at no cost to encourage them to take the HBV vaccine and to reform some of its educational curriculum to effectively limit the hazardous effects of this disease and elaborate on the serious health consequences of HBV.

Hepatitis B infection and vaccination: knowledge and attitude among medical students

“…transfusion of blood, sexual intercourse, mother to her baby respectively. 14 The preventive measures were better known to our students compared to Study in Jammu where they reported that use of condoms and sterile needles was proposed by 20%, avoidance of addiction by 50%, and immunization with hepatitis vaccine by 60% of the women as preventive measures against HBV infection.…”

Assessing the level of awareness and vaccination status of Hepatitis B among young female community of Pakistan

“…General excuses for not having their HBV status tested, was lack of motivation(36.76%), lack of time to check (21.54%), no family history of hepatitis(13.87%), fear of injection(10.76%), they were not familiar with HBV screening (7.51%) and from where to have the test done (9.31%). A study conducted in Syria also revealed that the main reason for not being vaccinated is the lack of motivation (34.2%) 8 . In one study it was explored that majority of the participants knew that hepatitis B can be transmitted during childbirth (83%) and by anybody who looks and feels well (78%) 26 .…”

“…The quantifiable symptoms and usual history of HBV infection differ with age. Clinical acute hepatitis B is usually more common in adults than children, and the possibility of becoming a chronic carrier of hepatitis B is larger in children than adults: 80-90% of populace perinatally infected compared to <5% of infections going on in adults 8 . HBV infection is primarily acquired during birth and infancy, and vertical communication accounts for more than 50% of the chronic infection cases 4,5,13,29,31 .…”

“…Vaccination has been revealed to be the most successful way in averting HBV infection and its consequences in children as well as the grown persons 19 . Since the implementations of mass immunization programs recommended by the World Health Organization, the incidence of HBV infection and liver cancer among population has significantly decreased 8 . Knowledge concerning precautionary measures plays a significant role in managing the disease.…”

“…Nazir reported that around 92% of subjects are aware of hepatitis B infection, only 16.4% of all the students have gone through the test of HBV infection and 37.5% students had taken the hepatitis B vaccine. Never thought of vaccination, lack of motivation, afraid of needles, lack of belief, and no need felt were the common reasons when they were inquired about not taking the hepatitis B vaccine 8 . Studies have also shown that horizontal transmission has perhaps assumed a larger part in supporting the existing rate of infection 12 , particularly in the female population of reproductive age 25 .…”