Background Helicobacter pylori infection affects about half of the world’s population and is usually acquired in childhood. The infection has been associated with chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer, and stomach cancer in adulthood. Little is known, however, about its consequences on child health. We examined the effect of H. pylori infection on growth among school-age children in the Colombian Andes by comparing growth velocity in the presence and absence of H. pylori infection. Methods Children who were 4–8 years old in 2004 were followed up in a community where infected children received anti-H. pylori treatment (n = 165) and a comparison community (n = 161) for a mean of 2.5 years. Anthropometry measurements were made every 3 months and H. pylori status ascertained by urea breath test every 6 months. Growth velocities (cm/month) were compared across person-time with and without infection, using mixed models for repeated measures. Results In the untreated community, 83% were H. pylori-positive at baseline and 89% were -positive at study end. The corresponding prevalences were 74% and 46%, respectively, in the treated community. Growth velocity in the pretreatment interval was 0.44 (standard deviation [SD] = 0.13) cm/month. Models that adjusted for age, sex, and height estimated that H. pylori-positive children grew on average 0.022 cm/month (95% confidence interval = 0.008 to 0.035) slower than H. pylori-negative children, a result that was not appreciably altered by adjustment for socioenvironmental covariates. Conclusions This study suggests that chronic H. pylori infection is accompanied by slowed growth in school-age Andean children.

The prevalence of infection was similarly high and increased with age in both populations. In these populations the age of acquisition of H. pylori after 1 year of age does not appear to be a primary factor responsible for the differences in the rates of gastric cancer incidence in adults. Previous findings in adults showed lower prevalence of the most virulent genotypes in Tumaco compared to Pasto, and bacterial virulence may play a key role in determining cancer outcome.

Congenital heart diseases (CHD) are structural malformations of the heart or large vessels, which cause a functional impairment, present at birth, being discovered at that time or during the course of the life of the carrier. CHD are a group of complex diseases that cause a serious public health problem. the objective of the work was, to identify the most frequent congenital heart malformations in children under 1 year of age in the general hospital of the north IESS Los Ceibos of the city of Guayaquil (Ecuador) in the period July 2017-January 2018. The data of this investigation were taken from pediatric patients by reviewing medical records. In the study period, 35,105 pediatric care visits were made to children under 1 year of age. Around 1.025 (2.92%) cases of congenital malformations were detected, of which 108 corresponded to congenital heart malformations (CHD), that is, 10.53% of the malformations observed were of the CHD type. The most frequent cardiac congenital malformations in children under 1 year old are non-cyanotic congenital cardiac malformations (NC) with a total of 102 cases (94%) and 6 cases (6%). they correspond to congenital cardiac malformations (C), being these less frequent.