title: Helicobacter pylori infection and pediatric asthma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Childhood infectious diseases are one of the most known environmental pathogenic causes of childhood asthma. The high prevalence of both Helicobacter pylori infection and asthma in our country prompted us to assess anyprobable association between them in childhood.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study recruited 196 children aged 6 to 12 years old comprising 98 asthmatic (case group) and 98 healthy (control group) individuals. Urea breath test was performed for all of the children and H. pylori infection was compared between the two groups according to the urea breath test results.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Urea breath test was positive in 18 asthmatic (18.36) and 23 (23.36) healthy subjects but was not significantly different between the case and controls (p = 0.380). Further analysis in the asthmatic group revealed association of H. pylori infection withage (p < 0.001) and duration of asthma (p = 0.010). However, no significant correlation was found between sex, severity of asthma, controled asthma or abnormal pulmonary function tests with H. pylori infection (p= 0.804, 0.512, 0.854 and 0.292, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given the results of the study, H. pylori infection was not significantly different between asthmatic and healthy children. In asthmatic patients, there was no significant association between H. pylori infection and sex, severity of disease, control status of disease and normal or abnormal pulmonary function tests. H. Pylori infection had a significant association with increasing age and duration of asthma.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Infections Disease Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karimi
authors.forename: Koroush
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fakhimi-Derakhshan
authors.forename: Farid
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Imanzadeh
authors.forename: Mohamad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rezaei
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cavoshzadeh
authors.forename: Saeid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maham
keywords: Helicobacter pylori; asthma; urea breath test