title: Survival of Helicobacter pylori in milk and tap water.
abstract: The survival capacity of Helicobacter pylori in artificially contaminated milk and tap water was investigated in the study. Helicobacter pylori could survive for up to 10 days in milk at 4 degrees C storage but only 4 days in tap water with a steady decrease of colony forming units. However, electron microscopy clearly showed that the non-culturable coccoid form was present in tap water which had been kept at 4 degrees C for 7 days. It is concluded that H. pylori may survive in tap water as well as in milk, with the implication that they may, thereby, act as a vehicle of transmission.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Xiangya Hospital, Hunan Medical University, Changsha, PR China. xgfan@hotmail.com
authors.forename: X G
authors.initials: XG
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chua
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Q S
authors.initials: QS
authors.lastname: Zeng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000254:growth & development*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008875:Middle Aged; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology*; D013696:Temperature; D014871:Water Microbiology