Uzma Ghori, Farah Agha, Fasia Basir, Umer Jehangir.
Awareness of Transmission of Hepatitis B, C and HIV amongst Health Care Workers at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Karachi.
Infect Dis J Jan ;22(2):553-5.

Objective: Transmission of infections to health care workers by needle stick injuries is a huge health problem. Unfortunately there is little data in this regard from Pakistan. We aim to assess the knowledge of health care workers (HCW) regarding transmission of Hepatitis B, C and HIV at a tertiary care center of Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on the knowledge of HCW including physicians, nurses and technicians of Ziauddin University. A structured questionnaire including their demographic information and their understanding of universal safety precautions was filled by a trained HCW during October and November 2012. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Percentages of categorical variables were determined and compared using Chi- square test. Means were compared by using one way anova. P value of <0.05 was considered significant. Result: Two hundred HCW participated in the study. Majority were males (51%) and physicians (n=88, 44%), between the age of 26-35 years. Most of the participants were on job for approximately three years. Only 30% of the participants were above the mean score for knowledge which was 24.3±2. The mean score of universal precautions was 7±0.7. Knowledge of technicians and nurses was better than the doctors, with the main source of information being media, internet, television and radio. Conclusion: Knowledge about spread of blood borne infections and universal precautions in health care workers is inadequate and requires continuous sensitization and address.

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