RESUMEN
The prevalence of markers for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) was studied among final year medical students and the medical staff at two university teaching hospitals in Saudi Arabia. At King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH) in Riyadh, evidence of exposure to HBV in the male medical staff (42.9%) was significantly greater than among medical students (25.3% males, 19.3% females; P = 0.0041) or the controls (28.6% males, 17.1% females; P = 0.0095). At King Fahad University Hospital (KFUH) in Al-Khobar, although the prevalence of exposure in the medical staff (28.3%) was higher than that in the controls (18.5%) the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05) and this could be due to the small numbers tested (46 physicians, 54 controls). Regarding exposure to HCV there was no significant difference in markers of the virus among the three categories investigated (1.7% in the controls, 2.6% in medical students and 1.9% in the medical staff). The low risk of transmission in the medical staff could be due to the small amount of the virus in the blood of HCV carriers. It can be concluded from the study that, in contrast to HCV, the occupational risk of HBV infection is high among Saudi physicians and hence HBV vaccination to unexposed medical staff is the only way for effective prevention of infection.