Sero - Prevalence of <i>Helicobacter Pylori</i> in HIV Positive Patients and HIV Negative Controls in St. Paul’s General Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background. <i>Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)</i> is recognized as a major human pathogen. Clinical symptoms associated with <i>H. pylori</i> infection have been reported in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A high, normal, and a lower sero - prevalence of <i>H. pylori</i> infection in HIV positive patients than negative controls was found in different studies. The aim of this study was to assess the sero - prevalence of <i>H. pylori</i> infection in HIV positive patients and negative controls and determine the impact of CD4 cell count in patients with <i>H. pylori</i> in St. Paul’s General Specialized Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods. A comparative cross sectional study was conducted in HIV positive patients and controls with gastrointestinal symptoms using Serology test kit (ACON^® <i>H. pylori</i>, USA). All individuals who came to Voluntary Counselling and Testing and Anti - Retroviral Therapy to the Out Patient Department of the hospital were examined for complaints of dyspepsia and those with the complaint were tested for <i>H. pylori.</i> Results. Of the 106 HIV positive subjects, 68 (64.2%) were positive for anti - <i>H. pylori</i> IgG antibodies; and of the 106 HIV negative controls, 52 (49.1%) were positive for anti - <i>H. pylori</i> IgG antibodies (p=0.037). There was no significant difference of <i>H. pylori</i> seroprevalence between relatively higher and lower CD4 cell counts in the HIV positive cases (p>0.05). Conclusion. A significantly higher seroprevalence of <i>H. pylori</i> was demonstrated in the HIV positive subjects. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of <i>H. pylori</i> between different CD4+ cell counts in the HIV positive study group.