Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Medical Students towards Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C

Infection with Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a problem of worldwide significance. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported HBV to infect nearly 2 billion people around the globe. Furthermore, out of those 2 billion, 350 million suffered from chronic, lifelong infection. Medical students are particularly a high risk group as they are more prone to Hepatitis B and C infection due to cases of needle stick injury and exposure to patients suffering from hepatitis. Having enough knowledge and proper attitude towards these infections are cornerstones of preventing their spread. Health staff and medical students have the most important role in preventing the disease by improving the disease knowledge among them and the patients because medical students are in close contact with hepatitis patients during their study period and afterwards. Objectives To evaluate knowledge, attitude and practices towards Hepatitis B among medical students. And To evaluate knowledge, attitude and practices towards Hepatitis C among medical students. METHODOLOGY -A cross sectional study was carried out in the Department of Microbiology, Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Karad. Total 200 II MBBS students were included in the study. Informed consent was obtained from participants. Data was collected in pretested questionnaire specially designed for this purpose. MAJOR FINDINGS-Knowledge and attitude of the medical students of KIMS Karad regarding Hepatitis B and C is fairly good. Sensitization of the medical students to the various aspects of the disease and vaccination through an active health education programme is crucial to control the spread of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.