Determining the Level of Anti-Hepatitis B Surface Antibody in Nursing and Allied Nursing Students in Birjand University of Medical Sciences, 2013

Background: Hepatitis B infection is one of the common diseases worldwide and the most prevalent communicable virus transferred by blood to the healthcare personnel. Active immunity is the most effective measure to prevent hepatitis B infection. The present study aimed at determining hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb) in nursing students in Iran, 2013. Methods: The present cross sectional study was conducted on 178 students of nursing, anesthesia, and operating room. They had been fully vaccinated against hepatitis B. HBsAb level was determined in blood samples by enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and Dialab kit made in Italy. Independent t test, ANOVA, and the Tukey range test were used to analyze the data. The level of significance was < 0.05. Results: HBsAb level of 4 (2.2%) cases was below 10 mIU/L, 109 (61.3%) had an HBsAb level between 10 and 100 mIU/L, and in 65 (36.5%) cases, HBsAb level was above 100 mIU/L. Mean HBsAb level in the cases was 95.7161.4 mIU/L. There was no statistically significant difference among the means of HBsAb in terms of gender, time elapsed from the last vaccination, and time to attend training (P< 0.05). Conclusions: In general, it can be concluded that due to high immunogenicity of hepatitis B vaccine, serological immune response assessment of vaccinated individuals is not necessary except for special and risky groups and, therefore, not recommended.