title: Evaluation of the Correlation Between Childhood Asthma and Helicobacter pylori in Kashan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Asthma is a chronic inflammatory air-way disease with increasing prevalence rate during the recent years. There are studies about the relationship between asthma and infectious diseases, including the association between asthma and Helicobacter pylori. According to the latest studies, there is an epidemiological correlation between asthma prevalence and prevalence of H. pylori.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this research was to study the correlation between H. pylori and asthma by biopsy in five to eighteen year-old children who had undergone endoscopy at Shahid Beheshti Hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred children (5 to 18 years old) undergoing endoscopy owing to gastro-intestinal problems at Shahid Beheshti Hospital were observed for childhood asthma using the Gina 2010 questionnaire which included 24 questions with "yes" and "no" answers to identify asthmatic patients with five positive answers. Next, the patients were referred to an allergy and asthma specialist for clinical examinations, spirometry and post bronchodilator test (Post BD).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 138 H. pylori positive patients, eight cases (5.8 %) were asthmatic while of the 162 H. pylori negative patients 28 (17.3%) were asthmatic. This difference was statistically significant (P Value = 0.002). The correlation between H. pylori and asthma was studied after controlling the confounding variables including, gender, age and family history. The results obtained for the above-mentioned variables were significant (P Values of 0.004, 0.005 and 0.002, and Odd-Ratio Mantel Haenszel (ORMH) of 3.38, 3.24 and 4.06, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings showed that there is an inverse correlation between H. pylori and asthma. Performing more studies with larger sample sizes is necessary to confirm these results.
authors: Anatomical Sciences Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
authors: Tahere
authors: T
authors: Khamechian
authors: Pediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors: Amir Hossein
authors: AH
authors: Movahedian
authors: Pediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
authors: Ghasem
authors: G
authors: Ebrahimi Eskandari
authors: Pediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
authors: Marzieh
authors: M
authors: Heidarzadeh Arani
authors: Surgical Technology Department, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
authors: Abouzar
authors: A
authors: Mohammadi
keywords: Asthma; Childhood Asthma; Helicobacter pylori