Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in Children and Their Family Members in a District in Turkey

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori among children and their fami-ly members and to evaluate some epidemiologic characteristics. The study included 275 children, aged 1-15 year(s), suffering from different gastrointestinal complaints. Blood serology and stool antigen testing were used for the diagnosis of infection due to H. pylori. Sixty-five (23.6%) of the 275 children were posi-tive for H. pylori, and this positivity had a significantly increasing correlation with age (p<0.001). H. pylori-associated infection was observed among 45 (69.2%) and 17 (8%) mothers in the H. pylori-infected and non-infected groups respectively (p<0.0001). Most children and their families infected with H. pylori were living in an urban area. The findings suggest that infection due to H. pylori is a problem for this district area, and all children having any gastrointestinal complaints should be examined whether H. pylori was prevalent among their family members