Role of Helicobacter pylori in childhood dyspepsia

Abstract

Helicobacter pylori infect more than half of the world’s population, and it has been linked to several diseases, whether gastric or extragastric. The effect of H pylori eradication on functional dyspepsia, had been a matter of debate for a long time, and recently, some authors recommended categorizing functional dyspepsia associated with H pylori as a different disease entity. Few studies were conducted upon children and none of these studies linked the different outcomes to genotypes of H pylori. Iron deficiency anemia was linked to H pylori infection, but whether eradication therapy alone without iron supplementation can correct the anemia is still also controversial. This prospective cohort study aimed at assessing the role of H pylori in childhood dyspepsia, and the effect of its eradication on the disease outcome. A subsidiary aim is to find out a correlation between both the virulence factors of H pylori together with host susceptible phenotypes as regarding the blood group antigens, the clinical presentation of the disease and response to eradication therapy.