PETS ARE NOT A RISK FACTOR FOR HELICOBACTER-PYLORI INFECTION IN YOUNG-CHILDREN - RESULTS OF A POPULATION-BASED STUDY IN SOUTHERN GERMANY

Background. Helicobacter pylori may have multiple routes of transmissi on, It is unclear, however, whether the agent is also zoonotic and the refore transmitted from an animal reservoir. Aims. The aim of this pop ulation-based study was to assess the relationship of exposure to pets and H. pylori infection among children in a population-based sample i ll Ulm, a city in the South of Germany. Subjects and methods. All chil dren of German nationality who were to attend first grade in the schoo l year 1996/1997 were included in the study. The C-13-urea breath test was used to determine active infection status. In addition the parent s filled out a questionnaire to provide information about pets in the household as well as living conditions and socioeconomic factors of th e family. Results. Of 927 eligible preschool children 685 (74%) partic ipated in the study. Prevalence of infection was 6.3%, Infection with H, pylori was not positively associated with contact with pets in gene ral (p = 0.720) or to a specific kind of animal in bivariate and multi variable analyses as evaluated by means of logistic regression. Conclu sions. These results suggest that pets in the household are not a risk factor for H, pylori infection among children in this population.