Helicobacter pylori infection in children from the Western Pomeranian region

Introduction:Helicobacter pylori (HP) is one of the most common pathogenic factors in children’s gastrointestinal tracts.
Aim: To assess HP infection frequency in children who underwent endoscopy.
Material and methods: The results of a 2000-2007 study of 3593 children from the West Pomeranian region were analysed retrospectively. HP infection was diagnosed in those with inflammatory lesions in the stomach and/or duodenum areas and with a positive urease test or HP in histological specimens. The urease test was used in all the examined children.
Results: HP was detected in the stomachs of 701 children (19.5%), the share of girls and boys being the same (19.6 and 19.4% respectively). 593 children were infected with HP (16.5%) while colonisation was found in 108 (3%). Until age 10 the frequency of HP infection was growing with age: 5.6% (<2 years), 7.9% (3-4 years), 10.8% (5-6 years), 15.4% (7-8 years), 21.1% (9-10 years). In the group of children aged 10-18 it was diagnosed in 18-23%. Children infected with HP demonstrated inflammatory lesions in the stomach (96.4%) and/or in the duodenal bulb (11.3%). The following lesions were observed in the stomach: nodular gastritis (82%), gastritis (6.7%), erosive gastritis (7.4%) and ulcers (0.3% of children). In the duodenum the changes included: duodenitis (8.8%), erosions (2.0%) and ulcers (0.5%).
Conclusions: Irrespective of sex, the children of the West Pomeranian region who underwent endoscopy demonstrate a rate of HP infection growing until the age of 10. Its most common form is nodular gastritis.