Hepatitis B vaccination coverage among health care workers in rural Kerala

Background: Hepatitis B is one of the most important blood borne infection, the health care workers may acquire while providing care to the patients. The overall aim of this study was to estimate the Hepatitis B vaccine coverage and its determinants among health care workers.Methods: This cross-sectional study was done in a rural tertiary care hospital in Palakkad district, of Kerala. We particularly looked for self-reported hepatitis B vaccination coverage and its determinants, using self-administered pretested questionnaire in 410 health workers. We calculated the proportions and looked for association between the various independent variables and dependent variables for vaccination coverage.Results: Out of 410 study participants, 119 (29%) of them were males and 291 (71%) of them were females. The mean age of the participant was 31.3 years and the range was between 19 to 70 years. 365 (89%) were vaccinated with atleast one dose of Hepatitis B Vaccine. Of these 306 (74.6%) had received all the 3 doses of vaccine, as per schedule. Gender and years of experience was not associated with the Hepatitis B vaccination status. However, variables like educational status, professional background was associated with hepatitis B vaccine coverage.Conclusions: The coverage of hepatitis B vaccine was high. Among those with incomplete vaccination few of them were waiting for completing the vaccination schedule in near future. Good hospital policies like vaccinating the new medical students and new employees were the main factors responsible for high vaccination coverage among the health care workers in our study.