Yimer Seid Yimer, Mensur Shafi Mohammed, Kedija Muzeyin Muhammed and Yosief Tsige
Background: Health care workers (HCWs) are at increased risk of acquiring hepatitis B infection due to occupational exposure. A range of measures can contribute to reduce HBV transmission to HCWs. There is effective vaccine against hepatitis B infection throughout the world. However, many Nurses in resource poor countries remain at risk because they are not vaccinated against hepatitis B Virus (HBV). Therefore, this study is aimed to assess predictors and vaccination status of Nurses against HBV in Addis Ababa.
Methods: Facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among Nurses working in public hospitals in Addis Ababa from March to April 2015. A total of 272 Nurses were included in the study. Data was collected by using self-administered questionnaire. Binary logistic regression technique was used to identify important predictors.
Results: Among the study participants only 67 (24.4%) were vaccinated at least once in their life time. Out of those respondents who were vaccinated, only 35.8% were fully vaccinated. More than half of study participants (51.8%) had poor knowledge about hepatitis B vaccine. Nurses who earn 148-183 $USD was less likely to be vaccinated against HBV. Nurse with history of needle and sharp injuries were 7.78 times more likely to be vaccinated against HBV when compared to those without history of needle and sharp injury. Knowledgeable Nurses about HBV vaccination were 6.3 times vaccinated against HBV when compared to those with poor level of knowledge.
Conclusion: This study determined a low level of HBV vaccination status of Nurses in Ethiopia, which implies higher risk of Nurses to be infected by hepatitis B virus. Monthly income, history of exposure to needle and sharp injury, and level of knowledge towards hepatitis B vaccination were the most important predictors of vaccination status. Each concerned body should give special attention to make available/accessible the vaccine for all professional Nurses.
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