[Survey of hepatitis B and C in students of faculty of dentistry and dental hygienist school].

At present, in Japan, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection by blood transfusion rarely happens. However, according to the national survey, outbreak of sporadic acute hepatitis B and C is reported every year and viral hepatitis induced by iatrogenic infection is also reported. We think that education and enlightenmen for measures of infection control for hepatitis virus in dentisal medical care are important. Therefore, we carried out a questionnaire survey about measures of an infection control including hepatitis B and C for 352 students of a certain faculty of dentistry and a dental hygienist school. 35.5% of the total students thought the defense of oneself against infection was more important than defense of cross infection. Furthermore, the prevalence of the student who thought to permit recycle of a disposer glove and a disposer cartridge of a local anesthesia was 13.1% (46/352), 14.8% (52/352), respectively. The prevalence of students who recognized that HCV and HBV were detected from not only blood but also body fluid such as saliva remained in 65.3%. Consequently, the reality that knowledge of hepatitis virus and understanding about sterilization and disinfection of instruments were low became clear. In conclusion, immediate making of the guideline that aimed at standardization of prevention of hospital infection in domestic dental treatment and education to introduce the curriculum with a high regard for risk management of infection for students of dentistry will be required. In addition, it is an important problem to spread thoughts of standard precautions for dentistry.