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Abstract
Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection is one of the most infectious diseases globally. Nigeria is among the endemic countries for HBV, with a national prevalence of 11%. The Primary Healthcare Center (PHC) is critical for interrupting the transmission of HBV infection. Consequently, the baseline information concerning the prevalence, associated risk factors, and vaccination status of the health workers for HBV is required for the system strengthening, hence, the need for this study. To determine the prevalence of HBV among health workers in PHCs in AMAC, Abuja. 2. To identify the risk factors associated with HBV infection amongst this cohort. A hospital-based cross-sectional descriptive study involving 168 randomly selected PHC health workers. Data was collected with a structured questionnaire, and participants were screened for HBsAg. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21.0 with results significant at p-value < 0.05. 168 respondents participated in the study, 65.5% were females, and the mean age was 34 +/- 9 years. The full vaccination rate was 44%, while the prevalence of HBV infection was 4.8%. The history of dental procedure was the only significant predictor of HBV infection, and those who had the dental procedure were thrice more likely to be infected with HBV than their counterparts (OR: 3.077). The prevalence of HBV in this study is low, per, National prevalence, but high for this cohort of health workers with a considerable Hepatitis B vaccination rate. There is a need to strengthen health workers’ HBV screening and vaccination in addition to improving infection prevention and control in dental clinics/surgeries.
