Sero-Prevalence and Risk Factors of Hepatitis C Virus among Yemeni Dental Clinic Workers

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.