Helicobacter pylori infection in adults from a poor urban community in northeastern Brazil: demographic, lifestyle and environmental factors

Abstract

We investigated the prevalence and the risk factors for infection with Helicobacter pylori in a randomly-selected population of adults from a low-income community in Northeastern Brazil. Helicobacter pylori infection was determined by ELISA. Risk factors were assessed using a structured interview. Two hundred and four individuals were included in the study, including 49 males and 155 females, ranging from 18 to 80 years old. Overall, 165 of 204 participants (80%) were H. pylori positive, without significant gender differences (p= 0.49). The infection rate was of 84.7% in subjects 18 to 30 years of age, increasing to 92% in subjects 46-60 years old. Above 60 years old, the prevalence decreased slightly. As a whole, the prevalence of infection did not increase significantly (p=0.147) with age. There were no significant differences in the prevalence of H. pylori infection, when patients were classified by age, smoking habit, educational level, alcohol consumption, the number of persons per room, the number of children per household, the number of adults per household, cup-sharing, household pets, toilet location, number of persons per bed and medical history of antibiotic and raw vegetable ingestion. In conclusion, no risk factors associated with infection was found in these adults, suggesting that the infection, even in a poor population, may be acquired predominantly during childhood; the relatively high prevalence that we observed may be more due to a cohort effect than to acquisition of infection during adulthood.

Seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in chagasic and nonchagasic patients from the same geographical region of Brazil

“…Our data might indicate that patients with Chagas disease have a high risk for acquiring an H. pylori infection in childhood as well as in adult life. Moreover, as reported in other studies, we observed a decrease in the prevalence of infection among the oldest individuals, which has been explained by the fall in the specific serologic response among older individuals due to the decrease in their general immunity 17,[26][27][28] .…”

“…In Brazil, the overall prevalence of H. pylori is high when compared to that of developed countries, although the rates found vary according to the geographical region studied. In the south of Brazil, the rate of H. pylori prevalence in adults is ~63%, while in the poorest regions such as the northeast and mid-west it is ~90% [27][28][29] . Regarding the State of Minas Gerais, where the population evaluated in the present study lives, rates of H. pylori infection ranging from 62% to 86% have been reported among adults 17,30 .…”

Clinical Factors Related with Helicobacter Pylori Infection - Is there an Association with Gastric Cancer History in First-Degree Family Members?

“…However, there is lack of consensus on the association between H pylori prevalence and some of these factors such as age and gender. Even though recent epidemiological studies report an age-dependent increase in H pylori positivity, various studies describe that the prevalence of H pylori infection does not differ with age (Graham et al, 1991;The EUROGAST Study Group., 1993;Moayyedi et al, 2002;Rodrigues et al, 2005). Similar controversies exist on the association between H pylori positivity and gender.…”

High prevalence of duodenal ulcer in a tertiary care hospital in the city of São Paulo, SP, Brazil

“…in Northeastern Brazil (92% in subjects 46-60 years) (19,20) ; the prevalence of peptic ulcers has not changed in countries with a low prevalence of H. pylori infection due to eradication regimens (13) . The risk of infected individuals to develop peptic ulcer was found to be 1.7 [95% CI = 1.17-2.47] which is similar to other reports that showed a relative risk of 1.6-5.7 (mean, 3.3) for infected people of developing peptic ulcer, compared with non-infected people (5) .…”