Risk factors for helicobacter pylori infection in children: is education a main determinant?

Abstract

To investigate potential risk factors associated with Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection, we performed a case-control study in 167 consecutively selected hospitalized children in Salvador, Brazil. Hp infection was identified by the presence of IgG against Hp in serum samples. Data were gathered using a structured questionnaire, 38.3% children were found to be seropositive and classified as cases, and 61.7% were seronegative controls. After multivariate analysis, independent variables associated with Hp infection included: the educational attainment of the child's provider > or = 11 years (OR 0.1, 95% CI 0.01-0.9), poor garbage disposal service (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.0-4.9), thumb sucking (OR 4.6, 95% CI 1.1-19.8), brushing teeth more than once a day (OR 5.6, 95% CI 1.8-17.7), having a pet dog (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.0-6.1), and a history of chronic urticaria (OR 4.0, 95% CI 1.5-10.8). The risk factors identified are consistent with some, but not all, previous studies supporting either oral-oral or faecal-oral transmission of Hp. Our data suggested that a higher educational attainment might play an important role in preventing Hp infection.

Prevalence and Risk Factors for Helicobacter pylori Infection in Chinese Populations

“…In our study, there was a general trend in which higher education status was associated with a lower prevalence of infection, and the data were confirmed by multivariate logistic regression analysis. These results were consistent with previous studies [41,42], suggesting that education level may be an independent impact factor of H. pylori infection. We did not find any relationship between H. pylori infection and sharing a bed with others.…”

Management of Childhood Urticaria: Current Knowledge and Practical Recommendations

“…Other studies addressing childhood chronic urticaria have found 3/31 (10%), 2/93 (2%), and none out of 40 children infected with H. pylori (20,22,24). A case-control study regarding H. pylori infection in 167 children in Brazil found urticaria to be an independent variable associated with this bacterial infection (25).…”

Helicobacter pylori infection in mother and infant pairs in Anatolia

“…Keeping a dog at home also increases risk and indicates the potential zoonotic risk of human infection by H. pylori (20). The percentages of our study participants who did not have running water at home and kept a pet at home were 12.5% and 14.5%, respectively.…”

“…Age, socioeconomic level, overcrowding, sharing a bed, contaminated water, hygienic conditions and poor living conditions have been shown to be major risk factors for higher infection rates and earlier age at acquisition (20,21). Keeping a dog at home also increases risk and indicates the potential zoonotic risk of human infection by H. pylori (20).…”