Occupational hepatitis B virus infection in sewage workers

In a cross-sectional study the employees of a Sewage Company were tested for hepatitis B virus (HBV) markers--HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HBc--to determine the prevalence of HBV infection and assess the risk of exposed sewage workers becoming infected, so as to evaluate the necessity for appropriate vaccination. The overall prevalence of HBV markers was 43.9% and 6.6% of the employees were HBsAg carriers. In the univariate analysis the prevalence of past and current infection was significantly associated with exposure to sewage (p < 0.001), age (p < 0.001) and with educational level (p < 0.001). However, the logistic regression analysis confirmed that only exposure to sewage was independently associated with positivity for HBV infection (p < 0.001). Workers exposed to sewage should therefore be considered for vaccination against hepatitis B virus.