[Guideline on Helicobacter pylori infection in children]

Abstract

In 2012, at the request of the Dutch Society of Paediatrics, a multidisciplinary working group developed a guideline entitled 'Helicobacter pylori infection in children aged 0-18 years'. The 2011 international guideline served as the guiding principle for this. The guideline includes recommendations on which children should be tested for H. pylori infection, the diagnostic tests to be used, the type of treatment to be given, and how follow-up should be conducted. Children can be tested and treated in both primary and secondary care. A gastroscopy is indicated if the presence of H. pylori in a child has been confirmed by a non-invasive test and two attempts at eradication have failed, and/or there are alarm symptoms that may point to the symptoms having a different underlying cause. A seven-day course of triple eradication therapy can be prescribed. As the level of resistance is low in the Netherlands, this therapy can be used in both the first and second instance without the pattern of resistance being known.