Prevalence and risk factors to HIV-infection amongst health care workers within public and private health facilities in Cameroon

• DOI: 10.11604/pamj.2018.29.158.14073
• Publication Date: 2018-03-19T10:43:10Z
• Authors: Irénée Kammogne D...; Nelson Sonela; Nelly Kamgaing; Patrice Soh Takam; Luc-Christian Gwom; Thomas Michel Ana...; Joseph Fokam; Serge Clotaire Bi...; Laure Vartan Moukam; Tatiana Mossus Et...; Christine Sara Mi...; Alexis Ndjolo
• Keywords: Adult; Male; Health Personnel; prevalence; hiv; HIV Infections; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Risk Factors; Occupational Exposure; Surveys and Questionnaires; Prevalence; Humans; Mass Screening; Cameroon; HIV, health care worker, prevalence; Research; R; Social Support; Middle Aged; 3. Good health; Cross-Sectional Studies; health care worker; Medicine; Female; Health Facilities; Post-Exposure Prophylaxis

This study aimed at assessing the prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) among health care workers (HCWs) and to evaluate some risks factors for HCWs.We conducted a cross sectional study amongst HCWs in public and private healthcare facilities within seven regions amongst the 10 found in Cameroon. We collected data from 446 HCWs within 150 healthcare facilities. We used questionnaires for interviews and biological sampling for HIV test.HIV prevalence was 2.61% (95% CI: 1.32% - 4.61%) regardless of gender and age. HCWs in private health facilities were more infected compared to those in public health facilities 5.00% vs 1.40% (p = 0.028); OR = 3.7 (95% CI: 1.01-12.90). HCWs who had never screened for HIV had a high risk of being infected OR = 7.05 (95% CI: 2.05-24.47). 44.62% of HCWs reported to have been victim of an Accidental Exposure to Blood (AEB). Amongst them, 45.80% in public HF versus 32.1% in private HF reported to have received an HIV screening and Post Exposure Prophylaxis following this incident. 4.20% of HCW victim of AEB were HIV positive, and 36.40% of HCWs had appropriate capacity training for HIV patient care.Though the HIV prevalence in HCWs is lower than in the general population 2.61% vs 4.3%, there is a high risk of infection as we observed a relatively high percentage of AEB amongst HCWs with an HIV prevalence of 4.20%. There is thus, a need in strengthening the capacity and provide psychosocial support to HCWs.