Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in children dependently on age and living conditions.

The aim of the study was to examine the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in children in Lódź (Poland). The study was a serological survey of IgG antibodies to H. pylori in randomly chosen 240 children aged 6 months to 17 years. The serum was tested by ELISA technique (Porton-Cambridge, England) and by immunoenzymatic test (Quidel, USA). Some aspects of the family environment were studied. We found 15% infected children under 2 years, 16.6% infected children aged 3-5 years, 28.3% aged 6-10 years and 41.6% aged 11-17 years. We observed much higher prevalence of H. pylori infection in children from poor living conditions and in children from families with seropositive adults.