Sl. Hazell et al., HEPATITIS-A AND EVIDENCE AGAINST THE COMMUNITY DISSEMINATION OF HELICOBACTER-PYLORI VIA FECES, The Journal of infectious diseases, 170(3), 1994, pp. 686-689
Seroprevalence data from 1501 subjects was used to test the hypothesis
that Helicobacter pylori may be transmitted by the fecal-oral route.
Antibody to hepatitis A virus was used as a marker of fecal-oral expos
ure. Of the 1501 subjects, 35.5% were seropositive for both H. pylori
and hepatitis A, 19.1% were seronegative for both, 36.5% were seroposi
tive for hepatitis A only, and 8.8% were seropositive for H. pylori on
ly. Cross-sectional data from rural areas supported an association bet
ween hepatitis A and H. pylori. However, in the urban area there was n
o evidence of hepatitis A infection in persons <10 years old, yet the
seroprevalence of H. pylori was high in this group (similar to 32%). F
rom our data, we suggest that communitywide fecal-oral spread of H. py
lori may be of limited importance.