Seroepidemiology of Helicobacter pylori infection in India. Comparison of developing and developed countries.
Helicobacter pylori (previously Campylobacter pylori) is now accepted as the major cause of type B gastritis and thus what is known about the epidemiology of type B gastritis can reasonably be transferred to H. pylori. We used a specific ELISA for anti-H. pylori IgG to study the prevalence of H. pylori infection in a population of lower socioeconomic class from Hyderabad, India. The results from India were compared to studies from other parts of the world. Two hundred thirty-eight individuals ages 3 to 70 participated. The frequency of H. pylori infection increased with age (P less than 0.01) and was greater than 80% by age 20. H. pylori infection was present in 79% of the population studied; there was no gender-related difference in prevalence of H. pylori infection. IgG antibody against hepatitis A (HAV) was rapidly acquired in Hyderabad; in a subset of 58 children between the ages of 3 and 21 tested, the frequency of anti-HAV was 98.2%. The prevalence of H. pylori infection increases with age in both developed and developing countries. The high age-specific prevalence of H. pylori infection in developing countries is probably a reflection of the lower socioeconomic level of those areas.
Graham
D Y
DY
Department of Medicine, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, Texas 77030.
Adam
E
E
Reddy
G T
GT
Agarwal
J P
JP
Agarwal
R
R
Evans
D J
DJ
Malaty
H M
HM
Evans
D G
DG
D003906:Developing Countries; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005756:Gastritis / Q000382:microbiology*; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000276:immunology*; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors