SUMMARY

An anonymous, self-administered and voluntary survey was performed on medical students participating in the 17th International Scientific Meeting of the Latin American Federation of Scientific Societies of Medical Students, which took place in Lima, on October 2002. A total of 198 students responded, 150 of them were Peruvian. The results showed that 46.7% of these students have been exposed, at least once during the first nine months of 2002, to blood or body fluids; 29.4% of these cases were high risk expositions and none of these accidents were properly examined. Only 35.4% of the students surveyed reported having complete Hepatitis B vaccination. The high incidence of biological accidents among Peruvian students, added to the low degree of Hepatitis B vaccination and to the lack of adequate post-exposure care, places Peruvian medical students in high risk for acquiring Hepatitis B.


KEY WORDS: Biological accidents, biosafety, medical students, Peru.

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