Campylobacter pylori Gastritis and Peptic Ulcer in Children

Abstract

Sir .—We read with great interest the article by Kilbridge et al 1 in the December 1988 issue of AJDC on Campylobacter pylori (CP)-associated gastritis and peptic ulcer disease in children, which are becoming growing problems in pediatric gastroenterology. In fact, according to some authors CP is present in antral biopsies of up to 32% 2,3 of children with recurrent abdominal pain severe enough to require gastroscopy. Even if the prevalence of CP infection is known to increase with age and, therefore, it is expected to be lower in the pediatric population, in children with primary gastritis the percentage of CP infection is as high as 60% to 80% 4,5 and quite similar to the rate found in adults. In a retrospective study we carried out on all gastroscopies performed in our center from 1983 to 1987, only 58 patients (8.6%) with primary gastritis were found, but in 70.7% of