Hepatitis B-C and human immunodeficiency virus: seroprevalence and associated factors among health students in Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Objectives

To assess the seroprevalence of Hepatitis B (HBV), Hepatitis C (HCV), and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) among newly admitted health track students in a large university in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, and determine the students’ immunity against HBV, and bloodborne viral infection risk factors or practices among them.

Methods

Information about the 1145 students, vaccination history, and exposure to bloodborne viral infections risk factors/practices were collected using a structured questionnaire during August 2020. The results of serological data were obtained from students’ electronic files.

Results

All students tested negative for HBV, HCV, and HIV infections. The seroprevalence of positivity against HBV was 25.8%, and the frequencies of students with protective levels of anti-HBV were inversely related to their age. The majority (70.8%) of students had 1 or 2 identifiable risk factors for bloodborne diseases, and the most frequent risk factor was history of dental intervention. Female students were more than four-times likely to be in the high-risk group for bloodborne infections than males (OR = 4.4; 95% CI: 3.3–5.9). Being from the Central Province of Saudi Arabia (OR = 1.9; 95% CI: 1.2–3.1) and having a mother’s educational level of master or doctorate (OR = 3.0; 95% CI: 1.3–6.7) were found to be independent predictors of being in the high-risk group. On the other hand, having a family member in the healthcare field was found as a predictor of being in the low-risk group for bloodborne diseases (OR = 0.7; 95% CI: 0.5–0.9).

Conclusion

About three-fourth of students in this study were susceptible to HBV. Our findings stress the need to develop policies to raise awareness regarding bloodborne infectious diseases, in addition to expanding access to HBV vaccination for healthcare staff, especially in older ages.

KEYWORDS:

• Seroprevalence
• hepatitis b
• hepatitis c
• human immunodeficiency virus
• bloodborne infection
• students

Declaration of funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Declaration of financial/other relationships

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Peer reviewers in this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Authors’ contribution

All authors contributed to the study design, data analysis, interpretation of the findings, writing manuscript, and approving the final version of the manuscript

Acknowledgments

The authors want to acknowledge the following medical interns who participated in the data collection process: Ammar Saleem Bukhamsin, Abdullah Zuhair Al-Sahow, Kawthar Sayed Hameed Ebrahim, Zakiya Sayed Khalaf Shubbar, Abdullah Mansour Alomran, Rana Mohammed Almaharfi, Ali Mustafa Alhabrti, Hassan Mohammed AlHammadi, Ahad Yasir Shaikh, Bayader Waleed Al-Hamad, Abdullah Mansour Alomran, Sarah Adel Aljishi, Asma Aedh Saad Alqarni, Ghadah Fahad AlFaraj, Raghad Fahad AlFaraj, Danah Mohammed Almoaibed, and Nouf Ibrahim Albrahim. All these individuals have provided permission to be acknowledged.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

List of abbreviations

HBV: Hepatitis B Virus; HCV: Hepatitis C Virus; HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus; KSA: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; OR: Odds ratio; CI: Confidence Interval; HCW: Healthcare worker.

Declaration of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.