Occupational exposure to Hepatitis B virus, disease burden and pathways for postexposure prophylaxis management: recommendations for healthcare workers in highly endemic settings
S U M M A R Y: Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) was recognized many decades ago as an important occupational hazard for Health Care Workers (HCWs) globally. HCWs who are directly involved in patient care and are in continuous contact with blood or body fluids have an increased risk of occupationally acquirin...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-06-01
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| Series: | Infection Prevention in Practice |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590088924000180 |
| _version_ | 1797246785020755968 |
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| author | Vivian Efua Senoo-Dogbey Lillian Akorfa Ohene Delali Adwoa Wuaku |
| author_facet | Vivian Efua Senoo-Dogbey Lillian Akorfa Ohene Delali Adwoa Wuaku |
| author_sort | Vivian Efua Senoo-Dogbey |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | S U M M A R Y: Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) was recognized many decades ago as an important occupational hazard for Health Care Workers (HCWs) globally. HCWs who are directly involved in patient care and are in continuous contact with blood or body fluids have an increased risk of occupationally acquiring the virus. The risk of HCWs in highly endemic areas is greater due to the greater prevalence of infection in the general population. Recommendations are available to guide HBV prevention activities or practices among HCWs. These include the use of the hepatitis B vaccine as a preexposure prophylaxis and the use of hepatitis B immunoglobulin alone or hepatitis B immunoglobulin plus the vaccine as postexposure prophylaxis. The uptake of preexposure prophylaxis has been observed to be low in resource-poor settings where the disease is highly endemic. Postexposure prophylaxis has become the remedy for preventing occupational transmission of HBV in these settings.This review aimed to summarize the available evidence on the risk of transmission of HBV infection, the burden of infection and recommendations for pre- and postexposure prophylaxis for the prevention of occupational acquisition of HBV among HCWs. We conducted a narrative review to summarize the evidence available on the recommended steps of HBV exposure management and the utilization of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for HBV. A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Africa Journals Online (AJOL) databases. The keywords used were hepatitis B, hepatitis B virus postexposure prophylaxis, occupational exposures, and recommendations for postexposure to hepatitis B virus. We gleaned evidence from the literature sources and summarized the concepts related to exposure forms, postexposure prophylaxis management pathways and recommendations for the utilization of postexposure prophylaxis among exposed healthcare workers.From the synthesis of evidence, we conclude that HBV infection is a life-threatening condition. However, the disease is preventable by using the HBV vaccine as a preexposure prophylaxis measure. An effective postexposure prophylaxis management program is also available, and the last resort to preventing occupational transmission of HBV among HCWs who non-responders are, or who fail to vaccinate completely against HBV. Irrespective of the availability of these lifesaving interventions, the use of pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis among HCWs in highly endemic regions is suboptimal. Many barriers operating at the individual HCW and health facility levels have been identified as impacting the successful use of HBV preventive measures. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T19:48:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-363bf6c1dddb4cca9cdfec15a8b71097 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2590-0889 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T19:48:19Z |
| publishDate | 2024-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Infection Prevention in Practice |
| spelling | doaj.art-363bf6c1dddb4cca9cdfec15a8b710972024-03-25T04:18:02ZengElsevierInfection Prevention in Practice2590-08892024-06-0162100354Occupational exposure to Hepatitis B virus, disease burden and pathways for postexposure prophylaxis management: recommendations for healthcare workers in highly endemic settingsVivian Efua Senoo-Dogbey0Lillian Akorfa Ohene1Delali Adwoa Wuaku2Department of Public Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Ghana, P. O. Box LG 25, Legon, Accra, Ghana; Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Ghana; Corresponding author. Address: University of Ghana, P.O. BOX LG 25, Accra, Ghana. Tel.: +233 244 772 402.Department of Public Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Ghana, P. O. Box LG 25, Legon, Accra, GhanaDepartment of Nursing Research, Nursing, and Midwifery Training School, Korle-Bu, P. O Box KB 83, Accra, GhanaS U M M A R Y: Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) was recognized many decades ago as an important occupational hazard for Health Care Workers (HCWs) globally. HCWs who are directly involved in patient care and are in continuous contact with blood or body fluids have an increased risk of occupationally acquiring the virus. The risk of HCWs in highly endemic areas is greater due to the greater prevalence of infection in the general population. Recommendations are available to guide HBV prevention activities or practices among HCWs. These include the use of the hepatitis B vaccine as a preexposure prophylaxis and the use of hepatitis B immunoglobulin alone or hepatitis B immunoglobulin plus the vaccine as postexposure prophylaxis. The uptake of preexposure prophylaxis has been observed to be low in resource-poor settings where the disease is highly endemic. Postexposure prophylaxis has become the remedy for preventing occupational transmission of HBV in these settings.This review aimed to summarize the available evidence on the risk of transmission of HBV infection, the burden of infection and recommendations for pre- and postexposure prophylaxis for the prevention of occupational acquisition of HBV among HCWs. We conducted a narrative review to summarize the evidence available on the recommended steps of HBV exposure management and the utilization of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for HBV. A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Africa Journals Online (AJOL) databases. The keywords used were hepatitis B, hepatitis B virus postexposure prophylaxis, occupational exposures, and recommendations for postexposure to hepatitis B virus. We gleaned evidence from the literature sources and summarized the concepts related to exposure forms, postexposure prophylaxis management pathways and recommendations for the utilization of postexposure prophylaxis among exposed healthcare workers.From the synthesis of evidence, we conclude that HBV infection is a life-threatening condition. However, the disease is preventable by using the HBV vaccine as a preexposure prophylaxis measure. An effective postexposure prophylaxis management program is also available, and the last resort to preventing occupational transmission of HBV among HCWs who non-responders are, or who fail to vaccinate completely against HBV. Irrespective of the availability of these lifesaving interventions, the use of pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis among HCWs in highly endemic regions is suboptimal. Many barriers operating at the individual HCW and health facility levels have been identified as impacting the successful use of HBV preventive measures.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590088924000180ExposuresHepatitis B virusHealthcare worker postexposure prophylaxisRecommendations |
| spellingShingle | Vivian Efua Senoo-Dogbey Lillian Akorfa Ohene Delali Adwoa Wuaku Occupational exposure to Hepatitis B virus, disease burden and pathways for postexposure prophylaxis management: recommendations for healthcare workers in highly endemic settings Infection Prevention in Practice Exposures Hepatitis B virus Healthcare worker postexposure prophylaxis Recommendations |
| title | Occupational exposure to Hepatitis B virus, disease burden and pathways for postexposure prophylaxis management: recommendations for healthcare workers in highly endemic settings |
| title_full | Occupational exposure to Hepatitis B virus, disease burden and pathways for postexposure prophylaxis management: recommendations for healthcare workers in highly endemic settings |
| title_fullStr | Occupational exposure to Hepatitis B virus, disease burden and pathways for postexposure prophylaxis management: recommendations for healthcare workers in highly endemic settings |
| title_full_unstemmed | Occupational exposure to Hepatitis B virus, disease burden and pathways for postexposure prophylaxis management: recommendations for healthcare workers in highly endemic settings |
| title_short | Occupational exposure to Hepatitis B virus, disease burden and pathways for postexposure prophylaxis management: recommendations for healthcare workers in highly endemic settings |
| title_sort | occupational exposure to hepatitis b virus disease burden and pathways for postexposure prophylaxis management recommendations for healthcare workers in highly endemic settings |
| topic | Exposures Hepatitis B virus Healthcare worker postexposure prophylaxis Recommendations |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590088924000180 |
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