Abstract

Dental clinic workers (DCWs) in Yemen have an additional risk of getting infected with HCV from their work place and till now there is no study in prevalence of HCV infection and associated risk factors among DCWs. The purposes of this survey were to evaluate what proportion of dentists and dental assistants had serological evidence of current or previous HCV infection, what were their risk factors for exposure, and what was the frequency of use and effectiveness of barrier methods to prevent HCV infection. Data were acquired from a cross sectional survey conducted among DCWs in 2014 at the Faculty of Dentistry, Sana’a University, in Sana’a city. A proportionate to size random sample was drawn per DCW category. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data about socio-demographic characteristics and risk factors. ELISA was used to test sera for HCV antibodies. The study included 246 dentists and 263 dental assistants; the sero-prevalence of current hepatitis C virus infection was 1.6%. Prevalence of needle stick injuries, exposure to skin and to mucous membranes were 45.6%, 26.5% and 25.3% respectively. Cuts were also common with 41.1% of participants reporting a cut in a period of one year preceding the survey. Regular use of gloves, face mask, and glasses were reported by 74.4%, 28.3% and 25.3% of participants respectively. There was a highly significant associated with risk of HCV infection with needle stick injuries (OR = 8.6,P = 0.01, cuts (OR = 4.4,P = 0.04), contact with blood/saliva in skin (OR=20.8,P < 0.001). But longer duration in service was not significantly associated with risk of infection (OR = 2, P value = 0.34). In conclusion, the prevalence of HCV infection was high among Yemeni DCWs and eexposure to potentially infectious body fluids was high which might lead to high rate of transmit HCV to DCWs, therefore ensures a safer work environment is important in control and prevention of HCV in DCWs in Yemen.

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