- NEW YORK (Reuters
Health) - Children in day care or who have pet dogs are more likely to
carry Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium associated with stomach ulcers,
new study findings from Italy suggest.
-
- While the bacteria are common in the general population,
researchers are not sure exactly when the organisms take up residence in
the intestinal tract. Studies suggest that for most people this happens
in early childhood.
-
- Researchers are also still trying to determine who is
most at risk of contracting the bug. Previous research has shown that children
in less developed nations are more likely to be infected. However, even
among kids living in industrialized nations, the risk of infection with
H. pylori can vary widely among different ethnic groups.
-
- People infected with H. pylori face an increased risk
of developing ulcers, and in some cases, gastric cancers.
-
- In the current study, Dr. Maria P. Dore of the University
of Sassari and colleagues analyzed blood samples of 2,810 children attending
primary or middle school in northern Sardinia.
-
- Twenty-two percent of the children tested positive for
H. pylori. Kids living in rural areas were more likely to be infected than
urban children--37% versus 13%, respectively, according to the report in
a recent issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.
-
- Among children living in the country, having a pet dog
nearly doubled their chances of testing positive for the bacteria. No such
association was seen among children living in cities, the investigators
found.
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- Urban children were 1.5 times more likely to carry H.
pylori if they attended nurseries or day care centers, but because such
facilities are not common in rural villages, this information was not collected
for that group.
-
- "Our study showed that the epidemiology of H. pylori
infection in childhood is influenced by environmental factors both inside
and outside the home," Dore's team concludes.
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- SOURCE: Clinical Infectious Diseases 2002;35:240-245.
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