Abstract:

Background: Hepatitis B is a viral infection that damages the liver, it is a significant public health issue because it poses a risk to medical professionals and students who come into contact with infected people on the workplace. Results show that, 8% to 10% of the population in the developing countries is affected with the disease.

Vaccination against hepatitis B is safe and prevents infection in up to 95% of instances. Medical students especially those in clinical rotations in wards are at high risk to get and spread HBV because their activities involve contact with patients or blood or other body fluids in healthcare, laboratories or public-safety settings.

So this study aims at assessing the Proportion and barriers of Hepatitis B virus vaccination among these students, furthermore, their level of knowledge towards Hepatitis B virus and its vaccination is also crucial to be determined.

Objectives: To determine the proportion, barriers towards Hepatitis B vaccination, risk of infection and the level of knowledge among medical students undergoing clinical rotation at Bugando Medical Centre.

Methodology: The study was conducted at CUHAS among undergraduate students undergoing clinical rotations at Bugando Medical Centre involving a total of 291 medical students undergoing clinical rotations at the hospital. Convenient sampling procedure was used to attain the number of sample required and statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 20. Furthermore, the permission to conduct this study and the ethical clearance was obtained from the joint CUHAS/BMC ethics and review committee and upon data collection the participants was asked to consent in the study and the results was maintained accordingly.

Results: A total of 291 medical students were enrolled in a study with 95% response rate. The mean age of respondents was 22.7. More than half 56.35% were female, majority 92% were single. However nearly all 96% of respondents know than HBV can be transmitted through contact with the blood and body fluids of an infected person. Barriers for effective uptake of hepatitis B vaccination among medical students doing clinical rotations at BMC were assessed. Majority 64.94% responded for high cost of vaccine, 15.80% said that the vaccine is not available, 10.99% lack of time, 14.43% afraid of the side effect of the vaccine, 3.78% they have no trust in vaccine quality while 1.03% out of total respondents said the vaccine is not important. Out of total respondents 43% have tested for HBV, however 33% have taken three doses of HBV, only 2.1% had accidental needle injury, 3.01% had accidental blood exposure and 12% had contact with HBV infected person while nearly all 98% wear protective equipment such as Gloves and facemask when in contact with patient inward. Knowledge were assessed. Majority (87.9%) of the respondents had good knowledge of hepatitis B vaccination.

Conclusion: Knowledge towards hepatitis B vaccination is good among medical students at BMC who are doing clinical rotations. Barriers for HBV vaccination uptake was high cost, lack of time and afraid for the quality of vaccine. Setting-specific interventions and innovations are critical to improving vaccine uptake, given the observed differences between different factors.