ENDOSCOPY IS NOT A RISK FACTOR FOR HELICOBACTER-PYLORI INFECTION - BUT MEDICAL-PRACTICE IS

Background: Previous studies have suggested an increased risk for Heli cobacter pylori infection in physicians who perform UGI endoscopy beca use of exposure to potentially infectious gastric secretions. Therefor e, the H. pylori infection status of the endoscopy staff was compared with the H. pylori prevalence of medical staff without endoscopy exper ience and control subjects who had no contact with patients. Methods: The noninvasive C-13-urea breath test was performed in 2108 volunteers : 1460 physicians (mean age 44 +/- 12 years), 235 nurses (33 +/- 10 ye ars), and 413 control subjects (43 +/- 12 years) who were not working in clinical medicine. All subjects completed a questionnaire concernin g the weekly frequency of gastroscopies and the duration of endoscopic experience. Results: Overall, 37.4% of the physicians and 35.3% of th e nurses, but only 27.1% of the control subjects were infected. H. pyl ori infection was not significantly different between endoscopy-perfor ming (37.8%; n = 1091) and general medical staff (35.9%; n = 604). Nei ther the frequency of gastroscopies nor the duration of endoscopy prac tice correlated with H. pylori status. With respect to the age distrib ution; however, a statistically significant higher prevalence of H. py lori was observed in physicians and nurses compared with the 413 contr ol subjects without patient contact (p < 0.01). Conclusion: UGI endosc opy is not a risk factor for H. pylori infection, but medical practice slightly raises H. pylori acquisition.