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Screening for hepatitis B and C viral markers among nursing students in a tertiary care hospital.

Due to high risk of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among healthcare workers (HCW), routine pre-exposure vaccination against hepatitis B and the use of standard precautions to prevent exposure to potentially infectious body fluids have been recommended by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since tests for Hepatitis-B surface antigen (HBsAg) and anti-HBs have become available; studies on healthcare professionals have indicated that the prevalence of HBsAg, HCV and anti-HBs varies from 0-15%, 1-2% and 15-70% respectively.[1-4] Nursing students being new entrants into the medical field are inexperienced and untrained but still deal with bulk of work including procedures like sample collection and administering injectable medicines. They are at a continuous risk of exposure to an array of blood borne pathogens.[5] Keeping this in view, the present study was planned to determine the prevalence of HBsAg, HCV and to measure the levels of anti HBs antibody so as to determine the level of protective immunity. A total number of 250 students, in different semesters, were screened. Enzyme linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) was carried out for the detection of HBsAg and anti HCV (M/S Zhongshan Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., China) and anti-HBs levels (Monolisa anti-HBs Plus; Bio-Rad, France). History of occupational exposure and vaccination were also obtained.