Helicobacter pylori infection and chronic, persistent cough: is there an association?
BACKGROUND
Chronic, persistent cough is a common clinical problem, the cause of which sometimes remains unidentifiable.


OBJECTIVE
To study a potential association between Helicobacter pylori infection and chronic, persistent cough.


METHODS
A clinical observational study with symptom analysis, including 162 patients whose main presenting complaint was chronic, persistent cough of unidentifiable cause (study group) and 42 patients with chronic, non-specific laryngopharyngeal manifestations not including chronic cough (control group).


RESULTS
Active H pylori infection was present in 86.4 per cent (140/162) of patients in the chronic cough group, as opposed to 45.2 per cent (19/42) of the control group, as confirmed by detection of H pylori antigen in stool specimens. This difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). There was a significant improvement of the chronic cough of 75.4 per cent (98/130) of patients after successful H pylori eradication using appropriate medical therapy (p<0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Helicobacter pylori infection may lead to laryngopharyngeal irritation, with several clinical manifestations including chronic, persistent cough. However, the exact mechanism of this requires further research.
Talaat
M
M
Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
Gad
M S
MS
Magdy
E A
EA
Aggag
S M
SM
Nour
Y A
YA
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003371:Cough / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000150:complications*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori; D006801:Humans; D007828:Laryngoscopy / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome