HEPATITIS B AMONG HEALTH CARE WORKERS, PREVALENCE, AWARENESS AND FACTORS AFFECTING VACCINE UPTAKE AT THE LIMBE REGIONAL HOSPITAL

Abstract
Hepatitis B is a major public health problem in Cameroon and health care workers (HCWs) due to the nature of their work continue to be at high risk.

Only very few studies have investigated the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) prevalence and its associated factors among health care workers in Cameroon.
The purpose of this study was thus to investigate HBsAg prevalence as well as to assess knowledge and the factors affecting vaccine uptake among the healthcare workers at the Limbe regional hospital.

A hospital based cross sectional study design was used for this study.

This study will be carried out at the Limbe regional hospital in the month of February 2018.
The study includes 97 HCWs, 13 doctors, 47 nurses, 28 lab workers, and 7 cleaners. Demographic, hepatitis B knowledge and vaccination status was collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire.

HBsAg testing was done using Acon Hepatitis B surface antigen rapid test strip (Acon Laboratories Inc. San Diego.CA).
Categorical variables will be compared using Chi square test or its equivalents and a P-value less than 0.05 was considered significant.

From our study 64.21% of participants had sufficient knowledge about Hepatitis B infection but more (76.84%) had sufficient knowledge concerning the transmission and prevention of the disease.
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Background of study
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one of the major public health problems worldwide due to its high prevalence and level of morbidity and mortality (Tatsilong.,et al 2016).

Over 2billion people in the world today are infected with the HBV among which close to 240 million of them are chronic carriers of the HBV and stand a chance of death from acute fulminant liver disease, liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (Mueller., et al 2015).

It is seen that over 780,000 people die every year as a result of Hepatitis B related complications including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (Lozanor.,et al 2010).
WHO reports show that globally the prevalence of Hepatitis B (HB) is highest in Sub Saharan Africa and East Asia (WHO 2002).

It was estimated that 5 to 10% of the adult population in Sub Saharan and East Asia regions are chronically infected with the HBV (WHO 2002).

There is a particularly high prevalence of HB chronic infection in Africa with the prevalence rising up to 22% in south Sudan (Schweitzer.,et al 2015).

In Cameroon based on researches done it was found that the sero-prevalence of HB surface antigen (HBsAg) has been reported to be 10.1% in the general population of blood donors, 23.7% among HIV infected individuals, and 10.2% among pregnant women (Noumbiap., et al 2015).
The risk of contracting HBV for health care workers due to the nature of their occupation is estimated to be about 2 to 4 times higher than that of the general population (West 1984).

The main risk factor is coming in contact with the fluid that has been infected with the HBV and also by pricking resulting from attempting to recap the needle after usage on an infected individual (Pellisier., et al 2012)..

In cameroon few studies have been done with regards to the epidemiology of HBV among health care workers.

There has been the standardization of preventive vaccines against HBV infection among the HCW in many countries; yet this is not implemented in many resource poor countries (Noumbiap.,et al 2013).
Statement of problem
Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by inflammation of the liver.

Hepatitis B is a highly infectious pathogen that can easily be transmitted through various body fluids such as blood, sweat, and also other methods such as injuries from infected needles and sharps (Tatsilonget al 2016).

Healthcare workers face a state of constant exposure to viral infections such as HIV (human immune virus), HCV (hepatitis C virus) and also many other bacterial infections due to the constant close contact with the patient’s body fluids such as blood, and other discharges from the body of the patient (Tatsilong., et al 2016).
Research questions
What is the prevalence of HBV among health workers in Limbe regional hospital?
What is the level of awareness of the healthcare workers to the HBV in the Limbe regional hospital?
What are the factors that affect vaccine uptake by the health care workers in the Limbe regional hospital?
General objective
To determine the prevalence of HBV among health care workers in the Limbe regional hospital their level of awareness about the HBV and the factors that affect the vaccine uptake among the healthcare workers in this hospital.
Specific objectives
To determine the prevalence of HBV among health care workers in the Limbe regional hospital.
To assess the level of awareness of the health care workers in the Limbe regional hospital about the HBV.
To determine the factors that affect vaccine uptake among health care workers in the Limbe regional hospital.