Prevalence and Risk Factors of Helicobacter pylori Infection among Children Aged 1 to 15 Years at Holy Innocents Children's Hospital, Mbarara, South Western Uganda.

Phoebe Aitila,Benson Okongo,Michael Mutyaba,Caesar Oyet,Simon Okeny,Enoch Muwanguzi,Richard Onyuthi Apecu,Maurice Ndawula Kasule,Frank Ssedyabane,Rashid Kasule

doi:10.1155/2019/9303072

Abstract

Background Helicobacter pylori infection affects more than half of the world's population. The infection is generally acquired during childhood but can remain asymptomatic, with long-term clinical sequelae including gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and stomach cancer. Methods The study was approved by Institutional Review Committee of Mbarara University of Science and Technology. After obtaining informed consent from parents/legal guardians, illegible children who presented with gastrointestinal complaints at Holy Innocents Children's Hospital were recruited; structured questionnaires were administered to the parents/guardians to collect information on sociodemographic data and risk factors of H. pylori infection. Four (4) millilitres of blood was collected from each child and tested for H. pylori blood Antibody test and stool specimens were used for H. pylori antigen test. Results The prevalence of H. pylori infection among the study participants was 24.3%. The infection rate increased with increase in age of the participants, from 16.2% among 1to 5 years old to 27.2% among 6 to 10 years. Infections were higher among school going children (68/74, p=0.003, OR 3.9; CI: 1.5 to 10.6) and children from crowded households (59/74, p<0.001, OR 2.6, and CI 1.3 to 5.0), unsafe source of drinking water at schools (46/74, p=0.003), and lack of sanitary facility at homes (57/74, p=0.001, and OR 1.6 CI 0.7 to 3.6). Conclusion The prevalence of H. pylori infection among children aged 1 to 15 years at Holy Innocents Children's Hospital was high and increases with age. School attendance, lack of sanitary facility, lack of safe drinking water, and overcrowding were the risk factors associated with H. pylori infection.

Highlights

Helicobacter pylori infection affects more than half of the world’s population
Every child who presented with gastrointestinal complaints had a parent or legal guardian was requested to pick a number written on cards and place it in a box before the recruitment
A simple closed-ended questionnaire was administered to collect information on age and gender of the participating child, type of home toilet facility, sources of drinking water at home, number of people in their household, number of siblings, family history of peptic ulcers, and the educational level of the parent/guardian. 4mls of venous blood was drawn from each participant into a plain vacutainer tube and processed for H. pylori antibodies using rapid antibody-antigen based immunoassay strips (ABON BIOPHARM HANGZHOU CO LTD, CHINA)

Summary

Introduction

The infection is generally acquired during childhood but can remain asymptomatic, with long-term clinical sequelae including gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and stomach cancer. The prevalence of H. pylori infection among the study participants was 24.3%. The prevalence of H. pylori infection among children aged 1 to 15 years at Holy Innocents Children’s Hospital was high and increases with age. Lack of sanitary facility, lack of safe drinking water, and overcrowding were the risk factors associated with H. pylori infection. Prevalence rates of H. pylori infection among children have been shown to range from as low as 1.8% to as high as 65% [7,8,9,10,11,12,13].

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Conclusion