HELICOBACTER-PYLORI INFECTION - A SEROEPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY IN GIPUZKOA, BASQUE COUNTRY, SPAIN

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.