Prevalence of hepatitis B in anaesthesia personnel.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, an occupational risk to anaesthetists, varies widely in incidence throughout the world. This study was undertaken to define the prevalence of previous HBV infection in anaesthesia personnel in the teaching hospitals of metropolitan Vancouver. Participants donated a blood sample and completed a questionnaire. Overall participation rate was 90.4 per cent. No participants were HBV carriers. Ten of 83 anaesthetists (12 per cent) had antibodies to HBV while all anaesthesia residents were seronegative. Anaesthetists with HBV antibodies tended to be either older or foreign born. Standard precautions taken by anaesthetists such as use of preoperative questioning of a patient's hepatitis status or the use of gloves when handling body fluids of a suspected or proven HBV carrier could not be shown to affect this seropositivity rate. This study, consistent with others, suggests that anaesthetists are at risk for acquiring HBV infection from occupational exposure. This risk appears to be somewhat less than that for surgeons, dentists, and staff of dialysis and urban emergency units.