Seroprevalence of markers and immunization for hepatitis B in community health workers: a scoping review.

OBJECTIVE

To map the scientific evidence concerning the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and immunization among Community Health Workers (CHWs) worldwide.

METHOD: A scoping review was conducted using the LILACS, Medline (via PubMed), Embase, and Scopus databases, as well as grey literature (Google Scholar, Pro-Quest), employing the recommendations of PRISMA-ScR (extension for scoping review) and the Joanna Briggs Institute Manual.

RESULTS

Eleven studies were included, all conducted in Brazil and without parameterization of the outcome measure. The estimated prevalence of HBV infection ranged from 8.2% to 11.1%, while vaccination coverage varied between 41% and 88.8%. Only one study used the anti-HBs serological marker to assess immunization, estimating that 71.6% of community health workers were immunized. Two additional studies were based on self-reported anti-HBs, with prevalences of 30.0% and 30.2%.

CONCLUSION

The overall estimate of HBV infection prevalence and immunization among community health workers could not be determined due to the scarcity and geographical limitations of existing studies, as well as the measurements deparameterization.