Helicobacter pylori and abdominal symptoms: a population-based study among preschool children in southern Germany.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the relation of Helicobacter pylori infection with gastrointestinal symptoms in a healthy population-based sample of children.


METHODS
Population-based cross-sectional study of preschool children.


METHODS
Screening examination for school fitness by physicians of the Public Health Service in Ulm, a city with 100 000 inhabitants in southern Germany.


METHODS
One thousand two hundred one preschool children.


METHODS
Infection status was determined by 13C-urea breath test. Information on gastrointestinal symptoms was collected from children's parents by a standardized questionnaire and integrated into a symptom score. Results. Nine hundred forty-five children participated in the study (response rate, 79%). Overall, 127 children (13.4%) were infected. H pylori infection was not positively related to specific gastrointestinal symptomatology. Infected children had even fewer symptoms when compared with uninfected children.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results indicate that H pylori infection in children is mostly asymptomatic and not associated with specific gastrointestinal symptoms.
Bode
G
G
Department of Internal Medicine I, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
Rothenbacher
D
D
Brenner
H
H
Adler
G
G
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D016480:Helicobacter pylori; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014421:Turkey / Q000208:ethnology; D014839:Vomiting / Q000209:etiology*