OCCUPATIONAL RISK OF HEPATITIS-B AND HEPATITIS-C INFECTIONS IN SAUDI MEDICAL STAFF

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.