Assessment of knowledge, attitude & practices towards immunization against Hepatitis B virus infection amongst medical students in a medical college in Mangalore

Introduction: Infection by Hepatitis B virus is the cause of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and hepato-cellular carcinoma worldwide. It's estimated that almost 257 million of the world population have contracted the infection, of them there are 350 thousand with chronic infection. Health care professionals are at an increased risk of contracting the infection. Vaccination against Hepatitis B can prevent this deadly disease. Hepatitis B vaccine has outstanding record of safety and is also 95% effective in preventing children and adults from developing chronic infection. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire based study was conducted among 200 medical graduates in their 3rd and 4th year of MBBS to assess Knowledge, Attitude & Practices towards immunization against Hepatitis B Infection. Results: Overall knowledge among 4th year medical graduates regarding Hepatitis B infection & immunization was higher than 3rd year students. Above 90% of final year graduates have completed the whole schedule of immunization as recommended by Centres for Disease Control for prevention of Hepatitis transmission among Health care professionals. A positive attitude towards vaccination was seen among 95% of medical graduates.