The prevalence of infection and potential risk factors for HBV and HCV among healthcare workers not vaccinated against HBV: A study from a cancer center in Egypt, 2021–2022

Background and study aim

South Egypt Cancer Institute (SECI) is the largest oncology university hospital in Upper Egypt. HBV and HCV are amongst the most important viral infections in cancer patients due to their impaired immunity. Nosocomial infection is among the most important sources of infections of these viruses. However, estimation for the prevalence of HBV and HCV infections among healthcare workers (HCWs) dealing with oncology patients as well as identifying HCV genotypes have not been recently investigated.

Methods

The study consisted of a survey of HCWs in direct contact with blood as a part of their daily work. HCV/Ab, HBsAg and anti-HBc IgM were detected in 505 employees, RT-PCR was performed on HCV-positive persons.

Results

Prevalence was 7.5 % for HCV with marked drop in younger age group and 2.0 % for HBV. The age groups affected were mostly from 30 to < 40 for HBV and ≥ 50 years for HCV. Three-quarters of anti-HCV-positive were also positive by RT-PCR. Males had significantly more HBV infections than females. Gender didn’t affect the rates of HCV infection. HCV genotyping was determined in 20 HCWs who were positive for HCV-RNA. Except for only one, all infections were HCV genotype 4. The commonest place for exposure to HCV was the pediatric inpatient wards (14.3 %), while operation rooms and adult inpatient wards were the highest exposure places for HBV (5.1 % and 2.6 %, respectively).

Conclusions

The marked drop in the prevalence of HCV infection, as well as the relatively lower prevalence of HBV infection among HCWs provides evidence for the effectiveness of infection control measures applied in healthcare over the past few years.