Growth slowing after acute Helicobacter pylori infection is age-dependent.
OBJECTIVE
Most infections occur during childhood, but the health effects of childhood infection are poorly understood. We investigated whether growth decreases in the 2 months after acute seroconversion.


METHODS
We performed a nested case-control study among children 6 months to 12 years of age in a community on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. Health interviews were completed daily. Anthropometric measurements were taken monthly. Sera were collected every 4 months and tested for immunoglobulin G. Two-month height and weight gains of seroconverters were compared with gains of sex, age, and size-matched seronegative controls.


RESULTS
In the 2 months after infection, 26 seroconverters gained a median of 24% less weight than 26 matched controls (interquartile range, 63% less to 21% more). In multivariate analysis, infection attenuated weight gain only among children aged 2 years or older. This decrease was not explained by increased diarrhea.


CONCLUSIONS
seroconversion is associated with a slowing of weight gain in children aged 2 years or older. Reasons for this finding merit additional study.
Passaro
Douglas J
DJ
Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, California, USA. doug@uic.edu
Taylor
David N
DN
Gilman
Robert H
RH
Cabrera
Lilia
L
Parsonnet
Julie
J
D000208:Acute Disease; D000367:Age Factors; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D015430:Weight Gain
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D007074:Immunoglobulin G