Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori in Britain

The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in the United Kingdom (UK) is similar to that of other developed Western countries with H. pylori infe ction a major cause of morbidity from peptic ulcer disease and gastric canc er. Guidelines for testing and treating H. pylori have been published and r ecommend eradicating H. pylori infection in all patients with peptic ulcer disease. With the increasing efficacy and tolerability of H. pylori treatme nt and the development of near patient tests there is considerable demand f or H. pylori testing for screening as well as pre- and post-treatment. In t he future this may change the current pattern of testing towards increased population-based noninvasive testing. Currently most investigation for H. p ylori occurs within and is funded by the government health-care system. As no one test is suited to all clinical situations, numerous tests for detect ing H. pylori are available; however, growing concern about an increasing e ndoscopy workload has led to the development of screening protocols for end oscopy based on H. pylori status. In the future, the role of H. pylori test ing in the management of dyspepsia may also change based on the results of decision analysis models and community-based trials which are currently bei ng performed in the UK.