Helicobacter pylori is a helical-shaped gram-negative bacteria that lives in the mucous layer of the stomach and duodenum, causing peptic ulcer disease and chronic gastritis; it is also strongly associated with gastric malignancies and has been classified as a class I carcinogen.
It is transmitted mainly through feco-oral route in developing countries and gastro-oral route in developed countries. Both ways by which a person becomes colonized and by which a colonized patient becomes infected are still under investigation. H. pylori infection can be diagnosed by non-invasive techniques (serological assay, the 13C-urea breath test (UBT) and the stool antigen test) or by invasive techniques (endoscopy with biopsies for histology, culture and a rapid urease test). Although detection by endoscopy is highly specific, cost is high and this procedure is highly disconfortable for the patient.
The European Helicobacter pylori Study Group has defined the Guidelines for the Management of Helicobacter pylori infection (the Maastricht III Consensus Report).
The test-and-treat strategy is the strategy of choice in all patients with functional dyspepsia in high-prevalence (>20%) population and is an appropriate option for patients with non-investigated dyspepsia or in low prevalence populations. Recommended non-invasive tests are UBT and the stool antigen tests. Proton pump inhibitors (PPI) are a source of false negative diagnostic tests except serology, so PPI should be stopped for at least 2 weeks before to perform diagnostic test. It is recommended to follow up patients after H. pylori eradication with UBT or a stool antigen test.
H. pylori is found in more than 90% of people with a duodenal ulcer and in approximately 80% of those who have a gastric ulcer. The infection with H. pylori is one of the most chronic infections throughout the world: 20 to 90% of adults are infected by country; the infection is more common in developing countries than in industrialized ones. The high incidence of this infection in the population and the consequences it entails, including the risk of developing stomach cancer, justify the provision of a rapid diagnostic tool against this bacterium
The H. pylori Strip-Test is a highly sensitive and specific rapid membrane assay that uses monoclonal antibody to detect the presence of H. pylori antigens in stool specimens. |
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