Short report: socioeconomic and seasonal variations of Helicobacter pylori infection in patients in Venezuela.
Infection by Helicobacter pylori is recognized as a risk factor for gastric cancer and peptic ulcer disease. Venezuela has regions with different gastric cancer risks; the Andean region has the highest gastric cancer mortality in the country. We performed a cross-sectional study on 357 patients who underwent endoscopy attending 2 private (n = 76) and one public hospital in Caracas, Venezuela (n = 215), and one public hospital in the Andes (n = 66) to determine H. pylori infection (by a rapid biopsy urease test and histology). The proportion of infected patients in Caracas was significantly higher in public hospitals (72%) than in private hospitals (46%; P = 0.00001), and there was no significant variation the Andes and Caracas (P = 0.7001). When analyzing the data from the public hospital in Caracas, we found that the frequency of infected patients was significantly higher during the rain (96%) than during the dry months (70%, P = 0.00000001). Differences in prevalence of infection in symptomatic patients was not related to the risk of gastric cancer but to socioeconomic differences. Rain-dependent factors that may be exacerbating the clinical activity of nonulcer dyspepsia in people infected with H. pylori deserve further study.
Domínguez-Bello
María G
MG
Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, Caracas, Venezuela. mgdbello@ivic.ivic.ve
Beker
Bernardo
B
Guelrud
Moisés
M
Vivas
Jorge
J
Peraza
Simón
S
Pérez
María E
ME
Pericchi
Luis R
LR
D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012621:Seasons; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013272:Stomach Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D014510:Urease; D014687:Venezuela / Q000453:epidemiology
D014510:Urease