G. Cilla et al., HELICOBACTER-PYLORI INFECTION - A SEROEPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY IN GIPUZKOA, BASQUE COUNTRY, SPAIN, European journal of epidemiology, 13(8), 1997, pp. 945-949
Helicobacter pylori is one of the most common bacterial infections wor
ldwide. To evaluate the prevalence of this infection in Gipuzkoa (Basq
ue Country, Spain) we studied the presence of antibodies against Helic
obacter pylori (HPAb) using a second-generation EIA (Cobas Core). The
study was performed on two groups of subjects: a middle-class group, 2
-78 years-old (n = 1335) and a group of slum dwellers, 2-15 years-old
(n = 89). In the middle-class group the prevalence of HPAb in children
under 6 was 3.1% (3/96); the prevalence was significantly greater in
older compared to younger age groups, reaching 84.3% (102/121) in adul
ts 50-59 years. The geometric mean of the titer in seropositive subjec
ts was also greater in older age groups. By logistic regression analys
is the prevalence of HPAb was associated with age, educational level a
nd geographic origin but not with sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, O
r use Of nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs. The prevalence of HPAb wa
s much higher in the slum-dwelling group 2-15 years-old (55.5% of chil
dren 2-5 years-old). The results indicate that H. pylori infection was
more common in adult people from our geographic region than in those
from other developed countries and show that socioeconomically deprive
d children constitute at present a group at high risk of acquiring inf
ection in our region.