IDENTIFICATION OF HELICOBACTER PYLORI INFECTION IN ‎PATIENTS WITH UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASES, ‎AND ITS ANTIMICROBIAL SENSITIVITY

Abstract

H.pylori is the cause of duodenal ulcer, and a lot of other gastrointestinal diseases, the aim of this study ‎was to see the extent of this microorganism in our patients and to study its antimicrobial sensitivity. The ‎study included 283 patients(148 males and 135 females) with upper gastrointestinal complaints including ‎dyspepsia, heartburn, bleeding, and malabsorption to evaluate the presence of Helicobacter pylori ‎‎(H.pylori) infection using rapid urease test (RUT) and culture to see there sensitivity to different ‎antibiotics.‎ ‎ The study revealed that 199 patients (70.3%) have positive RUT compared to 218 patients (77.0%) ‎showed positive culture results. The positive culture results were confirmed by positive results of ‎biochemical tests (oxidase, catalase and urease).‎ ‎ Antibiotic sensitivity testing was performed in 28 cultures of H. pylori, and the results showed that 26 ‎cultures ( 92.9%) were sensitive to amoxycillin, followed by clarithromycin, rifampicin and cephalexin with ‎figures of 23 (82.1%), 22 (78.6%) and 21 (75.0%) respectively. Whereas, 16 cultures (57.1%) were ‎resistant to metronidazole, 15 (53.4%) to erythromycin and 9 (32.1%) to both cephalothin and ‎tetracycline.‎ ‎ It is concluded that, H.pylori infection is a predominant etiological factor of upper gastrointestinal ‎diseases, Also, RUT represent simple, convenient and reliable mean for the rapid diagnosis of H.Pylori ‎infection. Antibiotic sensitivity was the highest with amoxycillin and clarithromycin while the most ‎resistant antibiotic strains were encountered with metronidazole