Prevalence of hepatitis B markers in the anesthesia staff of a large inner-city hospital.

Thirty-four of seventy anesthesia staff members from an inner-city hospital evidenced past infection with hepatitis B. This is more than twice the prevalence previously reported for university-affiliated hospitals. Our findings suggest that screening before vaccinating is likely to be cost-effective for senior or foreign-born urban health care personnel in high-risk specialties, and vaccinating without screening is likely to be cost-effective for all persons newly entering high-risk specialties, including anesthesiology.