title: Helicobacter pylori seroprevalence in symptomatic veterans: a study of 7310 patients over 11 years.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection has been decreasing in the USA, but recent data are lacking. This study evaluates the seroprevalence for anti-H. pylori antibodies in symptomatic veterans tested over the past 11 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  The same serum anti-H. pylori IgG detection system has been used at a tertiary care Veterans Affairs hospital since late 1996. Results of all tests performed from 1997 to 2007 were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 7310 unique patients tested, 3982 (54.5%) were positive. Seropositivity declined from 70.8% in 1997 to 48.6% in 2002, then reached a plateau around 50%. A strong birth cohort effect was present, from a seropositivity of 72.7% for the veterans born before 1920 to 22% for those born between after 1980.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite a constant birth cohort effect, H. pylori seropositivity among symptomatic veterans leveled down at approximately 50% after declining steadily from 1997 to 2002.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Veterans Affairs North Texas Health Care System, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Susanne W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Carmack
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Genta
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009825:Oklahoma / Q000453:epidemiology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology; D014728:Veterans; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D007074:Immunoglobulin G