Abstract

---

Helicobacter pylori, a leading cause of gastritis, peptic ulcers, and other gastritis-related diseases in both developed and developing countries, is a significant public health concern in developed and developing countries, with a disproportionately high burden in economically developing countries due to poor sanitation. This study aims to isolate and determine the seroprevalence of H. pylori among patients attending two Mission hospitals in Umuahia, Abia State. Samples of blood and stool were collected from ninety patients. The blood was collected aseptically from the antecubital vein using a sterile disposable syringe and needles and allowed to clot for antibody detection using H. pylori strip kit (Helicobacter pylori Ab Rapid test (Cassette Germany). The isolation of H. pylori from the stool samples was done by inoculating onto blood and chocolate agar plates and then incubated in a microaerobic atmosphere at 370C for 5 days. Identification was based on typical colony morphology, characteristics appearance on gram staining and positive urease, oxidase and catalase tests. A high prevalence of 23.33% was observed in this study. Gender was not significantly associated with H. pylori infection (X2=0.1517, p=0.3712). The highest incidence was observed in the age group 16-26(38%) while the least was recorded with those of 49years and above 3(14.4%). There was no significant association of age with the prevalence of H. pylori infection (p=0.661). More cases of H. pylori infection was observed with patients from the rural area (16.67%). Out of the 90 participants suspected of having peptic ulcer, 23.33% of them had ulcer that was caused by H. pylori Out of the 21 ulcer patients cause by H. pylori 16 (76.2%) were both seropositive and culture positive to H. pylori while 5 (23.4%) were only seropositive. The prevalence of H. pylori infection was low among patients with peptic ulcer attending the two mission hospitals. In order to lessen the disease's impact, health education on transmission channels and risk factors for H. pylori infection is emphasized in this line.

Keywords: Helicobacter pylori infection, peptic ulcer, prevalence.