Hepatitis B vaccination coverage in medical students at a medical college of Mirpurkhas.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the coverage of Hepatitis B vaccine in medical students enrolled in a private Medical College.


METHODS
This cross sectional study was done at Muhammad Medical College Mirpurkhas. It has a total of 375 medical students from first year to final year. All students were interviewed using a pre-structured urdu translated questionnaire to find out the vaccination status of these students and the reasons for not getting vaccinated.


RESULTS
A total of 395 medical students were approached to participate in the study but only 375 (95%) students (M=214, F=159) gave response. Out of the total 375 students, 214 (57%) were vaccinated against Hepatitis B. Amongst this group 188 (87.8%) had completed their vaccination schedule of 03 doses and 26 (13%) were partially vaccinated. Vaccination uptake was higher (55.6%) in males as compared to females (44.3%). Reasons of not vaccination were lack of motivation ( 29.2%), no need felt (24.8%), (3) never thought of vaccination (21.7%), fear of injection (10.5%) and lack of belief in vaccination (8.07%). Only 130 (60.7%) students were screened before taking the vaccine. The self reported seropositivity of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen in medical students was 3.7%.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite the availability and accessability of a cost effective Hepatitis B vaccine since mid 80's, the vaccination coverage among medical students is low. Health education needs to be improved in all medical students especially in the private sector.
Department of Community Medicine, Muhammad Medical College, Mirpurkhas.
Muhammad
M
Asif
Waseem
W
Raja
Waseem
W
Raza
Zulfikar Ali
ZA
Gorar
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012577:Schools, Medical; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines