Screening of Helicobacter Pylori in Symptomatic Libyan Children

Abstract

Helibacobater (H. pylori) is among the most common bacterial infection in humans The prevalence of H. pylori varies markedly between countries. In Libya we have not a good ideas about the the epidemiology in children. (H. pylori) is usually associated with peptic ulcer disease and gastric carcinoma.Typically, children get infected during the first decade of life, but diseases associated with H. pylori are seen mainly in adults. Since evidence from the literature postulates that H. pylori infection occurs mostly during childhood. Studying the epidemiology of this infection in pediatric patients can enable better understanding of the risk factors and consequences of infection. Multiple diagnostic methods are available for the detection of H. pylori infection.The aim of this study was to use non-invasive method (IgG serology) for diagnosis of H. pylori infection in a prospective observational study conducted among 130 children from May 2022 to May 2025 symptomatic children mainly complaining of recurrent abdominal pain, between two and eighteen years of age. attending outpatient clinic in Gharyan Teaching Hospital. IgG antibodies were measured in these patients’ sera using a commercially available enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). H. pylori IgG antibodies were concordant in the general proportion of H. pylori infection for both male and female were 29%, 73% of infected children by H. pylori were males, 80% of H. pylori infected children were > 8 years old.