Kara I.H.Aydin B.Kizil A.Saka G.2024-04-242024-04-2420021016-5134https://hdl.handle.net/11468/24074Needlestick injuries are an important and continuing cause of exposure to serious and fatal diseases among health care workers. In present study, we aimed to determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis B and C, and to evaluate the niddlestick injury and other risk factors in nurses. In this descriptive study, 158 nurses were enrolled from different departments of Dicle University Medical Faculty Hospital (in Diyarbakir). Any risk factor for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (niddlestick injury, blood or blood products transfusion, tooth extraction, hospitalization, surgical intervention, HCV and/or HBV positivity in family members and economic status) was questioned by a questionnaire. Third generation ELISA reagent was used in the study. Mean age of cases was 25.6±4.4 (ranged between 19 and 44), and mean duration time of occupation was 7.3±4.8 (ranged between 1 and 26) years. HbsAg, anti-HbsAg and Anti-HCV seropositivity were % 5.06 (n=8), % 81.0 (n=128) and % 1.9 (n=3), respectively. Anti-HBc IgM positivity was seen in only one case. Present study has again exposed that niddlestick injury is the leading risk factor among the nurses (106 cases, % 67.1). No significant difference was found in HbsAg, anti-HbsAg and Anti-HCV seropositivity between Departments of Surgery, Internal and Laboratory (p>0.05). Preventing the needlestick injury is the best approach to preventing these diseases such as HBV and HCV in all health care workers especially in nurses, and it is an important part of any bloodborne pathogen prevention program in the work place.trinfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccessArticle1431391422-s2.0-0036310028N/A