Prevalence of serological markers for viral hepatitis B and C in female dental patients

OBJECTIVE: Prevalence of serological markers for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) among a sample of female patients receiving dental treatment at the College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was evaluated. STUDY DESIGN: Patients who were receiving dental treatment by students for at least three successive visits and had no past history of viral hepatitis were screened for the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis C viral antibodies (HCV). RESULTS: One hundred fifty-fivepatientsparticipatedinthisstudy.Fivepatients(3.2%) aged 23-53 years were found hepatitis markers seropositive. Two patients (1.3%) were HBsAg seropositive and three patients (1.9%) were anti-HCV seropositive. CONCLUSIONS: Taking medical history without screening blood test for HBV and HCV might lead to treating infected patients as non infected ones. This increases the risk of hepatitis cross infection unless strict adherence to standard precautions in dental setting is followed.