%0 Journal Article
%T Hepatitis B Awareness among Medical Students and Their Vaccination Status at Syrian Private University
%A Nazir Ibrahim
%A Amr Idris
%J Hepatitis Research and Treatment
%D 2014
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2014/131920
%X Background. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a potentially life-threating infection and a well-recognized occupational hazard for health-care 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 studentsĄŻ 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. 1. Introduction Hepatitis B infection is a disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV), which has a partially double-stranded circular DNA and belongs to the family Hepadnaviridae [1, 2]. Hepatitis B is a major public health concern worldwide. Approximately 30% of the worldĄŻs population has been infected with HBV [3¨C5], and more than 350 million are chronically infected with HBV and carry high risk for cirrhosis and liver cancer [6]. At least one million people die annually from HBV related chronic liver disease [7]. HBV is transmitted by body fluids, such as blood and serum, and can exhibit vertical transmission from mother to child. Sexual transmission, vertical transmission, and unsafe injections, including intravenous drug use, are the most common routes of infection for HBV [8¨C12]. Household contact and occupational health-care exposure to blood products and hemodialysis are other risk factors [13¨C20]. Health-care workers (HCWs) are reported to have the highest occupational risk for HBV infection [21]. There are 35 million HCWs worldwide, and percutaneous injuries have been estimated to result in approximately 66,000 hepatitis B viral infections per year [21]. Data from the United States in the 1990s showed that unvaccinated HCWs had serologic evidence of past or
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/heprt/2014/131920/