title: The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori serum antibodies in children with recurrent abdominal pain.
abstract: As part of a large, prospective study we investigated the prevalence Helicobacter pylori serum antibodies in children with recurrent abdominal pain (RAP). All patients suffered from recurrent bouts of abdominal pain for at least 6 months and ranged in age from 6 to 12 years. H. pylori antibodies were detected using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The prevalence of H. pylori antibodies in the RAP group was compared to that of a control group which consisted predominantly of pre-operative children. None of the control group suffered or had suffered from RAP. Antibodies to H. pylori were found in 7 of 82 (8.5%) RAP patients and in 2 of 39 (5.1%) control children. The latter difference is not significant and suggests that RAP is only rarely caused in children by H. pylori infection.
authors: Department of Paediatrics, Academic Hospital Maastricht, University of Limburg, The Netherlands.
authors: S B
authors: SB
authors: van der Meer
authors: P P
authors: PP
authors: Forget
authors: R J
authors: RJ
authors: Loffeld
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Stobberingh
authors: R H
authors: RH
authors: Kuijten
authors: J W
authors: JW
authors: Arends
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D012008:Recurrence
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial