Prevalence of Hepatitis B Markers in Occupational Health Nurses

A seroprevalence study was undertaken at the 14th Annual Conference of the Occupational Health Nurses Association of Ontario. A total of 151 self-selected registrants (33%) provided demographic, health, and occupational information. Blood was drawn for hepatitis B serology (hepatitis B surface antig...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of occupational medicine 1987-08, Vol.29 (8), p.685-687
Main Authors: Strickler, Albert C., Bradshaw, E. Diane
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Female
Hepatitis B Antibodies - analysis
Hepatitis B Core Antigens - immunology
Hepatitis B Surface Antigens - analysis
Hepatitis B Surface Antigens - immunology
hepatitis B virus
Human viral diseases
Humans
Infectious diseases
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Occupational Health Nursing
Ontario
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Risk
Viral diseases
Viral hepatitis
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Summary:A seroprevalence study was undertaken at the 14th Annual Conference of the Occupational Health Nurses Association of Ontario. A total of 151 self-selected registrants (33%) provided demographic, health, and occupational information. Blood was drawn for hepatitis B serology (hepatitis B surface antigen, core antibody, and surface antibody). Vaccine-induced seropositivity was found in 11 persons (7.3%) while naturally occurring markers were present in 13 nurses (8.6%). This exceeds the natural prevalence of markers in Canada (4% to 6%) but is less than that seen in emergency and renal dialysis nurses. It implies that occupational health nurses are at less risk for hepatitis B virus infection than their acute care hospital colleagues.
ISSN:0096-1736
2332-3795