As healthcare workers run a high and constant occupational risk of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection through exposure to biological material, vaccination is mandatory as well as the monitoring of antibody levels one to two months after complete immunisation. The aim of this descriptive cross-sectional study was to determine HBV vaccine coverage of 200 primary and secondary healthcare workers (100 each) from Šabac, Serbia and their blood anti-HBs titre. We also wanted to identify factors that could predict the titre. Anti-HBV vaccination covered all participants, of whom 89.5 % were fully vaccinated, and 85 % had a protective antibody titre. We found a statistically significant association between antibody titre and the number of received vaccine doses, chronic jaundice, autoimmune disease, and cancer in our participants. The fact that 15 % did not achieve the protective antibody titre confirms the necessity of its control after immunisation, which is not routinely carried out in most countries, Serbia included. It is, therefore, necessary to develop a detailed strategy for monitoring vaccination and serological status of healthcare workers in order to improve their safety at work. An important role should also be given to continuous education of healthcare workers from the beginning of schooling to the end of their professional career.
Budući da su zdravstveni radnici izloženi visokom i stalnom profesionalnom riziku od infekcije virusom hepatitisa B (HBV), zbog izloženosti biološkom materijalu cijepljenje je obvezno, kao i praćenje razine protutijela jedan do dva mjeseca nakon kompletne imunizacije. Cilj ovog deskriptivnog presječnog ispitivanja bio je utvrditi pokrivenost cjepivom protiv HBV-a 200 djelatnika primarne i sekundarne zdravstvene zaštite (po 100) u Šapcu u Srbiji i njihov anti-HBs titar u krvi te identificirati čimbenike koji bi mogli predvidjeti titar. Cijepljenjem protiv HBV-a obuhvaćeni su svi ispitanici, od kojih je 89,5 % bilo potpuno cijepljeno, a 85 % imalo je zaštitni titar protutijela. Pronašli smo statistički značajnu povezanost između titra protutijela i broja primljenih doza cjepiva te povijesti žutice, autoimunih i malignih bolesti naših ispitanika. Činjenica da 15 % nije postiglo zaštitni titar protutijela potvrđuje nužnost njegove kontrole nakon imunizacije, koja se u većini zemalja, pa tako i u Srbiji, ne provodi rutinski. Stoga je potrebno izraditi detaljnu strategiju praćenja cijepljenja i serološkoga statusa zdravstvenih radnika kako bi se poboljšala njihova sigurnost na radu. Veliku ulogu ima i trajna edukacija zdravstvenih djelatnika od početka školovanja do završetka profesionalne karijere.
Keywords: HBV; anti-HBs titar; anti-HBs titre; antibodies; coverage; healthcare workers; pokrivenost; protutijela; zdravstveni radnici.
© 2024 Slobodanka Bogdanović Vasić et al., published by Sciendo.