Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection among dyspepsia patients in Ibadan, South West Nigeria

Abstract

Helicobacter pylori infection is typically acquired shortly after birth in both low and high-income regions of the world and once the infection is established, it commonly persists life long unless treated. This infection has been identified as an important risk factor for the development of peptic ulcer disease and is probably the most important cause of relapse in those previously treated for peptic ulcer disease. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of H. pylori infection in patients with peptic ulcer disease at the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan; South West Nigeria. Fifty-two (52) patients who had symptoms of dyspepsia were recruited for the study and each of them went through endoscopy. Forty-three (43) (82.7%) of the patients were diagnosed with peptic ulcer disease while nine (9) (17.3%) patients were diagnosed normal. The presence of H. pylori was determined using culture and Urease Breath Test (UBT). The culture result showed that thirty-five (35) (81.4%) of the patients diagnosed with peptic ulcer disease had H. pylori infection also, eight (8) (88.9%) of the normal patients were culture positive for H. pylori. The UBT result showed that 65.1% of the diagnosed peptic ulcer patients were positive for H. pylori, also 55.6% of the normal patients were found UBT positive for H. pylori. In all, H. pylori infection is very common among dyspepsia patients and the organism is closely associated with the disease in South West Nigeria. Key words: Helicobacter pylori, dyspepsia, urea breath test, South West Nigeria.