• Gülnur Kul, Selma Tosun, Sevil Alkan Çevıker, Hanife Uzar, Handan Alay, Kesmez CanFatmaFhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8085-7589Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey., Ayşegül Seremet Keskin, Mehmet Reşat Ceylan, Yıldız KayaSibelShttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6319-7889Department of Infectious and Clinical Microbiology Diseases, Sungurlu State Hospital, Corum, Turkey., Selda Aslan, and Multicenter Study Group.
• Department of Infectious and Clinical Microbiology Diseases, Kirikhan State Hospital, Kirikhan, Turkey.
• Int. J. Clin. Pract. 2021 Oct 1; 75 (10): e14700.

BackgroundThis study aimed to investigate the prevalence of the disease and testing and vaccination status of healthcare workers in terms of hepatitis A infection as well as their awareness. This study is a multicenter descriptive study performed with healthcare workers.Material And MethodsTesting status for hepatitis A, awareness of the results and vaccination status of healthcare workers were compared.ResultsOf the 12,476 healthcare workers participating in the study, only 65% (8,115 healthcare workers) had awareness of hepatitis A test results. Of the participants, 6,481 (66.3 %) stated that they were not vaccinated against hepatitis A. Vaccination rates against hepatitis A decreased with increasing age (P < .01). The rates of vaccination in all departments where participants worked were above 60% (P < .05). While the rate of protection among those working in departments creating a risk for hepatitis A virus infection was higher, no difference among vaccination rates was observed compared with the other departments.ConclusionVaccination of seronegative individuals is the safest way for hepatitis A, which can progress to fulminant hepatitis at advanced ages. It must be aimed primarily to increase the awareness of healthcare professionals and to increase the vaccination rates for hepatitis B and hepatitis A for the prevention of viral hepatitis. In our study, the awareness level was found to be above 50%, and the vaccination level was 35%, which is a rate that must be increased.© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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