Epidemiology of Helicobacter pylori in an asymptomatic population in the United States. Effect of age, race, and socioeconomic status
- PMID: 2019355
- DOI: 10.1016/0016-5085(91)90644-z
Epidemiology of Helicobacter pylori in an asymptomatic population in the United States. Effect of age, race, and socioeconomic status
Abstract
A causative role is now accepted for Helicobacter (formerly Campylobacter) pylori in type B gastritis, and evidence is accumulating that H. pylori infection plays a major contributory role in peptic ulcer disease. Preliminary studies have reported that the prevalence of H. pylori infection increases with age, but detailed information on the prevalence of the bacteria in any defined population and on the factors that may influence the pattern of distribution remains scanty. In the present study, a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and a [13C] urea breath test were used to investigate the prevalence of H. pylori infection among 485 healthy asymptomatic volunteers between the ages of 15 and 80 residing in the Houston metropolitan area. H. pylori infection was present in 52%. The prevalence of H. pylori infection increased rapidly with age at 1%/yr for the overall population. The frequency of H. pylori infection was higher in blacks (70%) than whites (34%) (P less than 0.001); this difference remained after adjustments were made for age, gender, educational level, income, and use of tobacco or alcohol. H. pylori infection was independent of gender but was closely correlated with socioeconomic class. There were significant inverse correlations between age-adjusted frequency of H. pylori infection and income and between educational level and H. pylori infection. There was no association between H. pylori infection and consumption of alcohol or nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug use or smoking. Having pets was associated with a lower frequency of H. pylori infection, but this was highly associated with higher socioeconomic status. The mode(s) of transmission of H. pylori is unknown, but the social patterns of H. pylori infection are consistent with fecal-oral transmission as one important pathway. Socioeconomic factors seem to determine the age of acquisition.
Similar articles
-
Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in Korean children: inverse relation to socioeconomic status despite a uniformly high prevalence in adults.Am J Epidemiol. 1996 Feb 1;143(3):257-62. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a008736. Am J Epidemiol. 1996. PMID: 8561159
-
Helicobacter pylori infection in children of Texas.J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2000 Oct;31(4):405-10. doi: 10.1097/00005176-200010000-00014. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2000. PMID: 11045838
-
Helicobacter pylori and socioeconomic factors in Russia.Helicobacter. 1996 Jun;1(2):82-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1523-5378.1996.tb00015.x. Helicobacter. 1996. PMID: 9398883
-
Helicobacter pylori: epidemiology and routes of transmission.Epidemiol Rev. 2000;22(2):283-97. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.epirev.a018040. Epidemiol Rev. 2000. PMID: 11218379 Review.
-
The epidemiology of Helicobacter pylori infection.Epidemiol Rev. 1991;13:42-59. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.epirev.a036078. Epidemiol Rev. 1991. PMID: 1765119 Review.
Cited by
-
PCR-Based Detection and Genotyping of Helicobacter pylori in Endoscopic Biopsy Samples from Brazilian Patients.Gastroenterol Res Pract. 2013;2013:951034. doi: 10.1155/2013/951034. Epub 2013 Jan 16. Gastroenterol Res Pract. 2013. PMID: 23401678 Free PMC article.
-
Association between Helicobacter pylori infection, MASLD, and liver fibrosis in patients with severe obesity: a single-center experience.Surg Endosc. 2024 Nov;38(11):6873-6879. doi: 10.1007/s00464-024-11177-z. Epub 2024 Aug 27. Surg Endosc. 2024. PMID: 39192041
-
Helicobacter mustelae isolation from feces of ferrets: evidence to support fecal-oral transmission of a gastric Helicobacter.Infect Immun. 1992 Feb;60(2):606-11. doi: 10.1128/iai.60.2.606-611.1992. Infect Immun. 1992. PMID: 1370432 Free PMC article.
-
Prevalence of Infection and Antibiotic Susceptibility of Helicobacter pylori: An Evaluation in Public and Private Health Systems of Southern Chile.Pathogens. 2019 Nov 9;8(4):226. doi: 10.3390/pathogens8040226. Pathogens. 2019. PMID: 31717523 Free PMC article.
-
Low socioeconomic class is a risk factor for upper and lower gastrointestinal symptoms: a population based study in 15 000 Australian adults.Gut. 2001 Jul;49(1):66-72. doi: 10.1136/gut.49.1.66. Gut. 2001. PMID: 11413112 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical