[Helicobacter infection in children]

Abstract

Consensus was achieved on the following issues: in children H. pylori infection causes chronic gastritis, but rarely gastric and duodenal ulcer disease. Eradication of H. pylori leads to healing of these conditions. To-date, there is no evidence demonstrating a link between H. pylori gastritis and abdominal pain except in those children where a gastric or duodenal ulcer is present. Children should be investigated for H. pylori infection only if their symptoms are suggestive of organic disease rather than functional abdominal pain. Endoscopy with biopsies is the optimal method to investigate a child with upper gastrointestinal symptoms suggestive of organic disease but this should only be carried out when a diagnostic work up using non-invasive methods has excluded other causes such as lactose maldigestion, constipation, coeliac disease, liver or biliary tact disease. If H. pylori is identified through investigations carried out during endoscopy the infection should be treated. Treatment should be monitored with a reliable non-invasive test and the 13C-urea breath test is the preferred method. H. pylori eradication in such children will cure gastritis but there is no data to support a relationship between a cure of H. pylori gastritis and symptom relief except in patients with ulcer disease. Further studies are needed to establish whether there are any specific symptoms associated with H. pylori gastritis alone and whether infected children without ulcer disease benefit from anti-H. pylori therapy regarding their symptoms. This consensus meeting did not deal with the optimal therapy for H. pylori infection as there are insufficient studies concerned the best treatment in children.