Mo. Alsohaibani et al., OCCUPATIONAL RISK OF HEPATITIS-B AND HEPATITIS-C INFECTIONS IN SAUDI MEDICAL STAFF, The Journal of hospital infection, 31(2), 1995, pp. 143-147
The prevalence of markers for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C
virus (HCV) was studied among final year medical students and the medi
cal staff at two university teaching hospitals in Saudi Arabia. At Kin
g Khalid University Hospital (KKUH) in Riyadh, evidence of exposure to
HBV in the male medical staff (42.9%) was significantly greater than
among medical students (25.3% males, 19.3% females; P=0.0041) or the c
ontrols (28.6% males, 17.1% females; P=0.0095). At King Fahad Universi
ty Hospital (KFUH) in Al-Khobar, although the prevalence of exposure i
n the medical staff (28.3%) was higher than that in the controls (18.5
%) the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05) and this
could be due to the small numbers tested (46 physicians, 54 controls).
Regarding exposure to HCV there was no significant difference in mark
ers of the virus among the three categories investigated (3.7% in the
controls, 2.6% in medical students and 1.9% in the medical staff). The
low risk of transmission in the medical staff could be due to the sma
ll amount of the virus in the blood of HCV carriers. It can be conclud
ed from the study that, in contrast to HCV, the occupational risk of H
BV infection is high among Saudi physicians and hence HBV vaccination
to unexposed medical staff is the only way for effective prevention of
infection.