Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in asymptomatic children

Objective: To determine the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in a sample of asymptomatic Australian children. Methodology: A prospective observational study, during a 3 month period, of consecutive children aged O to 14 years undergoing minor elective surgical procedures in a Day Surgical Unit at a Melbourne paediatric hospital. Subjects without gastrointestinal symptoms or a family history of peptic ulcers had sociodemographic data recorded and serum collected. Serum anti-H. pylori immunoglobulin G antibodies were measured by an enzyme immunoabsorbent assay previously validated in children from the same population. Results: H. pylori antibodies were present in 21/147 (14.3%) children aged 3 months to 14 years. Prevalence was not influenced by age or sex, but was greatest in children whose parents migrated from developing nations and lowest in children with Caucasian Australian or Western European parents (25.8 vs 5.9%; P< 0.001) An inverse relationship between social class and infection was also observed (P = 0.02). Multivariate analysis demonstrated the father's ethnic background as the only significant independent risk factor for H. pylori infection (P = 0.002). Conclusions: Although seroprevalence of H. pylori appears to be lower in Australian children than in developing countries there are some ethnic groups at substantially greater risk for the acquisition of H. pylori infection and its complications.