A sero epidemiological study of helicobacter pylori infection in students of 7-18 years of age in Sari township during 1999

Background and

Helicobacter pylori is the most prevalent infection in the world, particularly in the developing countries, which usually leads to gastritis, gastric ulcer, deoudenal ulcer, even gastric cancer and lymphoma. Çonsidering the importance of this infection and its different prevalence rate in various provinces of the country, this study was conducted to determine the prevalence of helicobacter pylori among the persons of 7-18 years of age in Sari township during 1999.

Some 400 students were selected randomly from the primary, secondary and high school. Primarily, personal characteristics like the age, sex, civil region, Socio-economic status i.e. father’s-occupation, parent’s education, dwelling situation, foundation area, the number of family members, address, the amount of used water and the type of management in school were recorded in the forms. Serum samples were examined for the existence of Âb ÏgG by ËLÏSÂ method and kit of HPG screen made by Genesis diagnostic company of Ëngland. Statistical analysis of the results was done by SPSS and X2 test.

Âccording to the results, the prevalence rate of H.P. was 19.2% (accuracy 95%, 17.2-21.2)therefore, there is a statistically significant relationship between the prevalence of H.P. infection and the age or educational status (P<0.002), Socio-economic status (P<0.04), father’s education (P<0.02), mother’s education (P<0.006), foundation area (P<0.0005), number of family members (P<0.002) and the type of management in school (P<0.05). But the other variables like Sex, father’s occupation, residential place, history of digestive problems in the subject, his parents, dwelling situation and the type of water used, had statistically no significant relationship. Çonclusion: The prevalence rate of H.P. infection in children of 7-18 years of age is high in Sari township and an extensive study on its clinical importance is recommended.