Seroepidemiology of Helicobacter pylori infection in a population of Egyptian children

BACKGROUND: To describe the seroepidemiology of Helicobacter pylori infection in a population of Egyptian children under 3 years. METHODS: A cohort of children under 36 months, residing in Abu Homos, Egypt, were visited at home twice weekly. Information regarding the child's breastfeeding status was obtained, and periodic anthropometric and household hygiene surveys were performed. In June 1997, a serosurvey was conducted on 187 study participants over 6 months old. The serosurvey was repeated in October 1997. All sera were tested for IgG antibodies to H. pylori. RESULTS: The June prevalence of H. pylori infection was 10%, and the incidence from June to October was 15%. Between June and October, 8 (42%) of 19 children that were positive for H. pylori infection seroreverted to negative. All seroreversions occurred in children 6-17 months. Other than age, no sociodemographic or environmental factor was significantly associated with incident H. pylori infection. There was no significant differences in the weight-for-age, weight-for-height, and height-for-age z-scores between children with and without prevalent H. pylori infection. CONCLUSIONS: Infection with H. pylori is common in Egyptian children under 3 years old and is not associated with malnutrition. No predictors for H. pylori infection were found. Our preliminary evidence for transient H. pylori infections in young children needs to be confirmed in a prospective cohort study, and predictors for persistent infection should be sought, since only these may be relevant to the known sequellae of infection.