Avaliação do Perfil Vacinal e do Conhecimento sobre Transmissão da Hepatite B em uma Amostra Populacional de um Município do Meio-Oeste Catarinense

The vaccination status and knowledge about hepatitis B were evaluated in a population sample of a midwest city of Santa Catarina (Videira, SC, Brazil). Participants were randomly selected from three locations. Data were collected by an interviewer using a standardized form. Three hundred individuals were interviewed (182 women and 118 men). Most of them had between 20 and 49 years old (47.6%) and the elementary school was the predominant educational level (49.3%). One hundred and ninetysix subjects (65.3%) said they were full vaccination schedule. Of the forty-one (13.7%) who reported not having had the vaccine, most point did not know why this situation. Regards the methods of transmission, 54% said do not know. It was concluded that the most of the population had complete vaccination schedule for hepatitis B, regardless of location evaluated. However, the importance of informing them about the means of transmission of the disease is essential.