Detection of the Helicobacter pylori antigen in faeces is the most common method used to diagnose infection. Here, Sarah Coleman and Steve Davies compared their current methodology with three commercially available palette tests.
Helicobacter pylori is a Gram-negative spiral-shaped bacterium found in the human gastric mucosa of around 25% of people living in the UK. It is linked to the development of significant gastrointestinal disease including chronic gastritis, gastric ulcers and gastric cancers.1,2 Progressive mucosal damage resulting in gastrointestinal disease is contributed to by a combination of virulence factors, host genetics and environmental factors.3
Gastrointestinal diseases, particularly gastric malignancy, create a significant health burden, which is known to be the third highest cause of cancer-related death worldwide.4 This link with malignancy led the World Health Organization and International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) consensus group to class H. pylori as a human carcinogen in 1994,5 and the IARC Working Group reported again in 2014.6
Prevalence of H. pylori is strongly linked with socioeconomic factors such as geographic location, living conditions, occupation, and co-habitation with infected individuals.4 Infection is often acquired during childhood, is normally chronic and is seen worldwide. A significantly higher prevalence, however, is found in developing countries, with carriage rates of around 80% in adults.1
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