The Relation betweenHelicobacter pyloriInfection and Acute Bacterial Diarrhea in Children

Background . H. pylori infection leads to chronic gastritis in both children and adults. But recently, there are arising theories of its protective effect in diarrheal diseases. Aim . To explore the prevalence of H. pylori infection in children with bacterial diarrhea and compare it with healthy controls. Patients and Methods . Two matched groups consisted of 122 consecutive children, aged 24–72 months old, with acute bacterial diarrhea, who had Shigellosis ( N = 68) and Salmonellosis ( N = 54) as patients group and 204 healthy asymptomatic children as control group enrolled in this study. Results . The prevalence of H. pylori infection in healthy control children was significantly higher than in patients group, (odds ratio = 3.6, 95% CI: 1.33–9.5, P = 0.007). In our study, only 2/54 Salmonella infected patients and 3/68 of Shigellosis had evidence of H. pylori infection, while normal control children had 27/204 infected individuals. Conclusion . H. pylori infection may play a protective role against bacterial diarrhea in children. So it is important to consider all of the positive and negative aspects of H. pylori infection before its eradication.