Hepatitis B Immunization Analysis: Tracking of Antibody Levels among Dental Patients

To verify the immunization status of dental students against HBV using an immunochromatographic rapid test and explore its associated protective and preventive effects against the disease.

This transversal epidemiological study was conducted in a public dental school in Brazil. A total of 263 dental students who were at clinical practice were invited to participate in the study. A semi-structured questionnaire that investigated the issues related to the theme was created for data collection. An immunochromatographic test for the detection of anti-Hepatitis B surface antigen was used to verify the immunization status. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).

Approximately 59.2% of the participants did not know the etiological agent of hepatitis B infection, and 36.6% did not know the number of doses of hepatitis B vaccines. Further-more, 53.2% of the participants were immunized against HBV. Logistic regression showed that those who received less than three doses of the vaccine (OR = 2.539) or did not know how many doses they received (OR = 3.022) had higher risks of not developing the immunity. Moreover, age (OR = 0.834) was a protective factor against non-immunization.

There was a low prevalence of dental students who were immunized against HBV. The number of vaccine doses received and the participants' age had significant associations with the immunization status.

Deals with an issue of major impact on the public health because of the high rates of hepatitis B in the general population, as well as the lack of knowledge of the subject by a large part of dental surgeons and dental students.