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The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori positivity in asymptomatic children of different ethnic backgrounds living in the same country.

OBJECTIVE
To measure the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori seropositivity in a population of apparently healthy children of different ethnic backgrounds, matched for age and socioeconomic background, who were born and continue to reside in the same country.


DESIGN
The presence of Helicobacter pylori specific IgG antibodies was determined during pre-surgery blood analysis in 883 symptom-free children, aged from 1 months to 17 years, who belong to different ethnic populations and were admitted for elective minor surgery. The different groups were matched for age and socioeconomic background.


RESULTS
Seventy-two children (8.2%) had a positive titer for Helicobacter pylori. We observed a significant difference in the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori positivity between symptom-free Caucasian and non-Caucasian children (p < 0.001). However, no difference could be observed between the non-Caucasian groups (p > 0.8).


CONCLUSION
We conclude that significant differences exist in the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection between asymptomatic children of different ethnic backgrounds, despite the fact that all investigated subjects were born in Belgium and have been living in this country ever since. Whether this difference is caused by an unknown environmental factor or an, until now, unrecognized genetic predisposition still needs to be evaluated.