Abstract

Background: Hepatitis B viral disease is highly infectious and once infected, the individual remains lifelong infected. There is no complete cure at present, so prevention is the mainstay of treatment. Being transmitted through the parenteral route, health care workers, medical students, pregnant mothers, and newborn babies are particularly at risk of the diseases.
Objective: To determine knowledge, attitude and practice of HCWs and medical students towards Hepatitis B infection and vaccination.
Methods: In the cross-sectional quantitative descriptive survey 202 HCWs and medical students participated. A self-administered, 22 items questionnaire comprising four sections. 5 Questions regarding demographic data, 7 questions assessing knowledge, 7 questions assessing an attitude, 3 questions assessing practices towards Hepatitis B. Respondents answered in limited as well as multiple choice formats.
Results: A total of 202 responded to the questionnaire; 74.75% were in the 15-25 age range with the highest female respondents (52.48%). While assessing their knowledge about Hepatitis 53.96% were fully vaccinated, 32.18 % were partially vaccinated and 13.86% were non-vaccinated. 94.04% of participants correctly identified the HBV infection (P = 0.008). The overall KAP scores of HCWs and medical students were found to be 87.20%, 90.20%, and 82.50%, respectively. It was observed lacking in practice toward HBV.
Conclusion: The study points satisfactory knowledge, attitude score but lack in practice towards HBV. Many participants are not fully vaccinated and so strong awareness is required on the significance of vaccination as a successful strategy for reducing Hepatitis infection