Helicobacter pylori and hepatitis A virus infection in school-aged children on two isolated neighborhood islands in Taiwan.
BACKGROUND
The transmission routes of Helicobacter pylori and hepatitis A virus (HAV) infections have been extensively discussed in previous literature. However, whether H. pylori and HAV shared the same transmission pattern or not remains unclear. Lower socioeconomic status was recognized as a consistent risk factor to both infections. However, whether fecal-oral transmission was a risk factor to both infections is still under debate.


METHODS
In 1996, we conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate the seroprevalence of antibody to H. pylori and HAV among the randomly selected school-aged children (age between 13 and 15) on Green Island (n = 91) and Lanyu Island (n = 138) (two isolated neighborhood islands near Taiwan Main Island).


RESULTS
The seroprevalence of H. pylori and HAV on the Green Island were 82.4% and 5.5%, respectively. The seroprevalence of H. pylori and HAV on Lanyu Island were 71.0% and 90.6%, respectively. H. pylori seroprevalence of all children and the subgroup of 13-year-olds was significantly lower on Lanyu Island than Green Island. However, it was not significantly different in subgroups of 14- and 15-year-olds. HAV seroprevalence was significantly higher on Lanyu Island than Green Island among all children and in each age subgroup. The correlation of H. pylori infection and HAV infection did not demonstrate significant linear correlation on both islands.


CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, H. pylori and HAV infections in school-aged children of 13-15 years of age on Green Island and Lanyu Island did not demonstrate significant correlation. The results of this study imply that H. pylori and HAV may share different transmission routes of infection.
Chen
Liang-Kung
LK
Department of Family Medicine, Children's Medical Center, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, ROC.
Hwang
Shinn-Jang
SJ
Wu
Tzee-Chung
TC
Chu
Chia-Hsiang
CH
Shaw
Cheng-Kuang
CK
D000328:Adult; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission; D016480:Helicobacter pylori; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission; D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies