OBJECTIVE: The Hepatitis B virus poses arecognized occupational risk to dental careworkers. All dental care workers must beprotected through immunization, withcompletion of vaccine series, and monitoring of vaccine response. This study examined the adherence to personal protectionagainst hepatitis B, including vaccinationand use of personal protective equipment,among dentists and dental assistants in thecity of Florianopolis, South of Brazil. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, datawere collected through self-reported questionnaires. Responses were obtained from 289 dentists and 104 dental assistants. RESULTS: The prevalence of complete hepati-tis B series vaccination was 73.4% amongdentists and 39.4% among dental assistants. Only 32.1% and 21.9% of them, respectively, monitored vaccine response. Acomplete vaccine series was associatedwith year of graduation as of 1997 (PR =1.16; IC95% = 1.01-1.33) and working mainlyin a surgical specialty (PR = 1.24; IC95% =1.02-1.51) among dentists, and with attending a training program among assistants (PR = 1.96; IC95% = 1.23-3.14). The proportion of always wearing gloves, masks,and protective eyewear was higher amongdentists than assistants. CONCLUSION: Campaigns are necessary to vaccinate thosewho neither have been vaccinated norhave completed vaccine series and to inform about the need of vaccine responsemonitoring. Educational training is recom-mended to improve adherence to personalprotection, specially focused on dental assistants.
Hepatitis B vaccines; Prevalence; Hepatitis B; Dental Staff; Occupational Health
