Immunologic status of nursing personnel against hepatitis B virus

We studied the frequency of HBsAg in the nurses of six Greek hospitals, through a questionnaire that was filled out from the nurses. There were 696 participants in the study, 80,6% of them declared that they had been examined at the past without vaccination for HBsAg and antibodies against HBV. 1,4% of them (8 participants) were found HBsAg positive and 14,6% with antibodies against HBV. 56,2% (345) were vaccinated, while 43,8% (269), is the population that could grow the disease. Finally, it seems that the frequency of HBsAg, is lower than the limit is used, in order to characterize a country as middle endemic. So there is an immediate need to vaccinate more health care professionals against HBV.