Declining prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in Jordanian children, report from developing country

Abstract

Introduction Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori ) is a Gram-negative bacteria that is harbored in the stomach and linked to chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and gastric malignancy. Most Helicobacter infections are acquired during early infancy. This study aimed to establish the prevalence of H. pylori infection in Jordanian children using the 13 C-urea breath test. Materials and methods We prospectively enrolled children between the ages of 4 and 17 years from April 2019 to July 2019. Enrolled children were patients with nongastrointestinal complaints at the pediatric clinics of two hospitals and at community centers caring for healthy children in Irbid, Jordan. Questionnaires obtaining data on sociodemographics, clinical symptomatology, and hygienic risk factors were completed. Recruited children underwent a urea breath test (UBT). Results Of 340 children who were recruited, 328 (96.5%) were included in the final analysis. The mean age (±standard deviation) was 9.56 (±3.98) years (range, 4.0–17 years), and 168 (51.2%) were males. Only 48 children (14.6%) tested positive. There were no gender differences. Living in an urban area and a family history of previous H. pylori infection were risk factors for the acquisition of infection ( P = 0.007 and 0.001, respectively). Although gastrointestinal symptoms were more common in H. pylori -infected children, only hiccups and constipation were statistically significant ( P = 0.035 and 0.038, respectively). Conclusion H. pylori infects at least 15% of Jordanian children, suggesting a significant drop in infection rates in this group. Larger-scale studies combined with clinical evaluations will be important for further understanding the reasons for the observed decrease in H. pylori infections in Jordanian children.

Detection of Helicobacter Pylori infection by invasive and non-invasive techniques in patients with gastrointestinal diseases from Iraq: A validation study

“…pylori infections with UBT method. However, our prevalence rate was much higher than report by Altamimi et al [ 20 ] from Jordan using UBT method [14.6% (48/328)]. This discrepancy may be due the differences in studied population or the ages of participants.…”

Potential Association Between Asthma, Helicobacter pylori Infection, and Gastric Cancer

“…It is estimated that in 2015, about 4.4 billion people were with HPI ( 4 ). Another survey illustrated that at least 15% Jordanian children were infected by HP ( 5 ). One recent study showed that among 350 participants in United Arab Emirates, about 41% were found to be HP infected according to the stool antigen test ( 6 ), China, particularly, still faces high prevalence.…”

Development of an easy-to-use urease kit for detecting Helicobacter pylori in canine gastric mucosa

“…Fecal–oral, oral–oral, and gastro–oral transmission routes are likely, especially since H. pylori can be discharged through defecation, spit, and vomitus. Given the role of H. pylori contamination in gastrointestinal infection, an exact diagnosis of H. pylori disease is a necessary foundation for treating different gastrointestinal indications and forestalling genuine complications [ 10 ].…”

“…To date, several more effective assays of H. pylori have been developed. Specifically, there are two groups of diagnostic tests for H. pylori , namely, invasive tests based on endoscopy in patients, for example, the rapid urease test (RUT), bacterial culture, and histopathology, and non-invasive tests, such as the urease breath test, serology, and the stool antigen test, which are specific and sensitive for H. pylori but quite expensive [ 10 , 13 ].…”

“…H. pylori produces urease, an enzyme that promotes bacterial colonization, and is used clinically as a biomarker for H. pylori infection as part of the rapid RUT, having specificity of 95-100% for infectious agents, depending on the severity of infection. This method is more convenient and faster than histopathology, bacterial culture, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) [ 5 , 10 ]. In addition to H. pylori , other Helicobacter species may infect humans and be associated with gastritis in animals such as canines and have been identified as non- H. pylori Helicobacter [ 14 ].…”