Abstract:
The Dental clinic workers (DCWs) in Yemen have an additional risk of getting infected with
hepatitis C virus (HCV) from their work place and till now there is no study in prevalence of
HCV infection and associated risk factors among DCWs. The purposes of this survey were to
evaluate what proportion of dentists and dental assistants had serological evidence of current
or previous HCV infection. Data were acquired from a cross sectional survey conducted
among DCWs in 2014 at the Faculty of Dentistry, Sana’a University, in Sana›a city. Enzymelinked
Immunosorbant assay (ELISA) was used to test sera for HCV antibodies. The study
included 246 dentists and 263 dental assistants; the sero-prevalence of current HCV infection
was 1.6%. In conclusion, the prevalence of HCV infection was high among Yemeni DCWs
and exposure to potentially infectious body fluids was high which might lead to high rate of
transmit HCV to DCWs, therefore ensures a safer work environment is important in control
and prevention of HCV in DCWs in Yemen.
