ASSOCIATION OF HELICOBACTER PYLORI INFECTION WITH DIARRHEAL
ILLNESS IN CHILDREN Papakonstantinou D.1, Palaiologou N.3,
Koutsaftiki C.2, Mammas J.2, Myriokefalitakis N.2,
Spyrakou U.1 1Medical
Diagnostic Laboratories, Athens, Greece 2Penteli Children’s Hospital, Athens, Greece 3Children’s
Hospital Aglaia Kyriakou, Athens Greece Introduction
- Objectives
Helicobacter pylori is a Gram-negative microaerophilic bacterium adapted
to survive in the stomach of humans where it can cause a variety of clinical conditions, among them
peptic ulcer disease, gastric cancer, MALT lymphoma and other
gastro-intestinal or extragastric manifestations [2]. The infection might be accompanied by
hypochlorhydria, which predisposes the infected individuals to enteric
infections from other enteropathogens [3].
Since the infection is acquired mainly in early childhood [1],
we examined the possible association of H. pylori with specific diarrheal illness in hospitalized
children. Patients & Methods
The study was conducted
between July and August 2009 in two pediatric hospital departments in
Athens. Fecal samples were obtained
and examined from 85 subjects (44 boys and 41 girls) admitted to the
hospitals, aged from 1 month to 12 years (median: 2 years). Among them 34 suffered from acute
diarrheal illness and 51 from other non-diarrheal diseases. Detection of H. pylori antigen in
stool was performed by the immunochromatograhic assay of Novamed Ltd
(Jerusalem, Israel) [1]. Results
The overall prevalence of H
pylori infection in this hospital population was found 29.4%. There was no sex difference between H.
pylori positive and negative children (p=0.97). Of the 34 children suffered from acute
diarrheal illness, 18 were found positive in H. pylori infection
(52.9%). On the other hand, only 7
(13.7%) out of 51 children with other non-diarrheal diseases were H.
pylori positive. The results
showed a strong association between diarrheal diseases and H. pylori
infection. (p< 0.001). No
significant differences were found in H. pylori detection between
patients suffered from various diarrheal syndromes (bacterial or viral
gastroenteritis, parasitic diseases etc.)
Rotavirus was detected in four and adenovirus in
two children suffering from acute gastroenteritis. Various bacterial
enteropathogens were isolated from 15 patients. Two of the latter were found to be Campylobacter jejuni positive. There was no association of the H.
pylori infection with any specific enteric pathogen. A possible limitation of this study is
that the socioeconomic status of the children had not been examined.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that gastric infection
with Helicobacter pylori might increase the risk of diarrheal disease
in children and/or both conditions might have the same route of transmission. References
1. Papakonstantinou D. Prevalence
of Helicobacter pylori in children admitted to paediatric hospitals in
Athens. MSc thesis no 490583. LSHTM. London 2009, pp. 11-13 &
25-26 2. Suerbaum S, Michetti P. Helicobacter pylori
Infection. N Engl J Med 2002, 347(15):1175-1186 (Abstract) 3. Windle HJ, Kelleher D, Crabtree JE.
Childhood Helicobacter pylori infection and growth impairment in developing
countries: A Vicious cycle? Pediatrics 2007, 119:754-759 (Full
text) ►Επιστροφή στην πρώτη σελίδα του IDEA Medical Newsletter Προειδοποίηση
Το περιεχόμενο του IDEA MEDICAL NEWSLETTER είναι επιστημονικό και απευθύνεται σε γιατρούς και λοιπούς επαγγελματίες υγείας. Σε καμιά περίπτωση δεν πρέπει να χρησιμοποιηθεί από πρόσωπα που δεν έχουν τα προσόντα νόμιμης άσκησης του ιατρικού επαγγέλματος για οποιαδήποτε θεραπευτική ή διαγνωστική εφαρμογή. |
