1Department of Virology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh-160 012, India.
2National Institute of Nursing Education, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh-160 012, India.
Hepatitis B and C are important cause of infection among health care workers. The nursing students are at risk since they deal with the bulk of work including procedures like sample collection and administering injectable medicines and are in the training phase of their career. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of Hepatitis B antigen, anti HCV antibodies and also to measure the levels of anti HBs antibody in nursing students so as to determine the level of protective immunity. A total of 250 nursing students of various semesters from the Nursing Institute were assessed for the prevalence of HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HCV antibodies. Prevalence of Hepatitis B and C infections in nursing students were found to be 0.4% and 0.0% respectively. In the students who had received a complete course of the vaccine, 82% had protective antibody levels >10IU/ml thereby highlighting the importance of vaccination against hepatitis B in all new entrants to the medical profession dealing frequently with patient care.
