Prevalence of helicobacter pylori infection among children living in a rural setting in Sub-Saharan Africa

Helicobacter pylori infection affects more than half of the world's population. It is generally acquired during childhood with no symptoms but has long- term clinical sequelae. This study estimated the prevalence of H. pylori infection amongst children in a rural environment in Africa. We condu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	BMC public health Vol. 17; no. 1; p. 360
Main Authors:	Awuku, Yaw Asante, Simpong, David Larbi, Alhassan, Ishmael Kunateh, Tuoyire, Derek Anamaale, Afaa, Taiba, Adu, Patrick
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England BioMed Central 24-04-2017 BMC
Subjects:	Africa South of the Sahara - epidemiology Age Age groups Antigens Bacteria Bacterial infections Boreholes Child Children Children & youth Children and Ghana Childrens health Complications Cross-Sectional Studies Defecation Developing countries Drinking water Endoscopy Epidemiology Feces Female Females Gender H.pylori infection Helicobacter Infections - epidemiology Helicobacter pylori Households Humans Immune chromatographic assay Industrialized nations Infections Laboratories LDCs Male Males Parents & parenting Pediatrics Pipes Population Population studies Prevalence Public health Qualitative analysis Risk Factors Rural areas Rural communities Rural environments Rural Population - statistics & numerical data Sanitation Socioeconomic factors Statistical analysis Studies Water Supply Ghana Sub-Saharan Africa United States > US H.pylori infection Immune chromatographic assay Prevalence Children and Ghana
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Summary:	Helicobacter pylori infection affects more than half of the world's population. It is generally acquired during childhood with no symptoms but has long- term clinical sequelae. This study estimated the prevalence of H. pylori infection amongst children in a rural environment in Africa. We conducted a cross-sectional study over a four (4)-month period within two rural communities. 240 asymptomatic children were tested using lateral flow immunochromatographic assay for the qualitative detection of H. pylori antigen in a fecal specimen. Statistical analysis and processing was done using Stata version 11. The mean age of the participants was 10.5 ± 2.7 years with the predominant age range being 8-10 years (34.6%), and a mean household size of 7.1 ± 1.7. The study population showed a female preponderance of 57.1%. 88% of the H. pylori positive children lacked pipe and borehole drinking water. All of the positive H. pylori children practiced open-air defecation. The overall prevalence of H. pylori infection among children in this study was at least 14.2%. Our study demonstrated a high prevalence of H. pylori infection among children in a rural setting. Educational status of parents did not affect H. pylori prevalence but increasing household numbers, female gender, source of drinking water other than pipe and borehole, open-air defecation and younger age were associated with a higher H. pylori prevalence.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1471-2458 1471-2458
DOI:	10.1186/s12889-017-4274-z