The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

A multiroute way of transmission for Helicobacter pylori

A multiroute way of transmission for Helicobacter pylori
A multiroute way of transmission for Helicobacter pylori
Background. Twenty-five years after the first successful cultivation and isolation of Helicobacter pylori, the scientific community is still struggling to understand the way(s) how this bacterium is transmitted among human populations.
Aim. In this work, we aimed at evaluating the likelihood of gastrooral, oral-oral, and fecal-oral routes of infection, and also to which extent iatrogenic and zoonotic transmission, breastfeeding, water and food ingestion are likely to contribute to H. pylori transmission. Methods. A literature search was conducted using PubMed and ISI Web of Knowledge, which included the following text search terms: Helicobacter pylori and epidemiology/epidemiological. Only original articles published in English were considered. For each putative route of transmission, the percentage of papers that supported a positive association with the presence of H. pylori was calculated. Positive associations were considered when the impact of factors related to a specific transmission pathway were statistically significant.
Results. Overall, data indicate that successful colonisation by H. pylori is most probably derived from direct person-to-person contact (100% positive association). Furthermore, exposure of humans to H. pylori derived from environmental sources is a very common event (64% for zoonotic transmission, 76% for water, and 75% for food, respectively).
Discussion. Even with the possible pitfalls of this type of analysis, which include the possible existence of confounding factors not accounted for in some of the studies, and the natural tendency to give relevance and present data that are significant rather than data that are not, the case for a multiroute way of transmission is compelling.
1083-4389
p.456
Guimaraes, N.
afe9b40c-e5e2-4afc-b83c-185ae0c2f065
Azevedo, N.F.
c90d7c41-e45a-404d-9472-9d0b411448e7
Figueiredo, C.
ef79ccf3-34dd-4695-b087-7ece834695b2
Keevil, C.W.
cb7de0a7-ce33-4cfa-af52-07f99e5650eb
Vieira, M.J.
b13909e0-b086-49fc-b589-3fb9d2a02577
Guimaraes, N.
afe9b40c-e5e2-4afc-b83c-185ae0c2f065
Azevedo, N.F.
c90d7c41-e45a-404d-9472-9d0b411448e7
Figueiredo, C.
ef79ccf3-34dd-4695-b087-7ece834695b2
Keevil, C.W.
cb7de0a7-ce33-4cfa-af52-07f99e5650eb
Vieira, M.J.
b13909e0-b086-49fc-b589-3fb9d2a02577

Guimaraes, N., Azevedo, N.F., Figueiredo, C., Keevil, C.W. and Vieira, M.J. (2007) A multiroute way of transmission for Helicobacter pylori. Helicobacter, 12 (4(P142)), p.456. (doi:10.1111/j.1523-5378.2007.00540_20.x).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background. Twenty-five years after the first successful cultivation and isolation of Helicobacter pylori, the scientific community is still struggling to understand the way(s) how this bacterium is transmitted among human populations.
Aim. In this work, we aimed at evaluating the likelihood of gastrooral, oral-oral, and fecal-oral routes of infection, and also to which extent iatrogenic and zoonotic transmission, breastfeeding, water and food ingestion are likely to contribute to H. pylori transmission. Methods. A literature search was conducted using PubMed and ISI Web of Knowledge, which included the following text search terms: Helicobacter pylori and epidemiology/epidemiological. Only original articles published in English were considered. For each putative route of transmission, the percentage of papers that supported a positive association with the presence of H. pylori was calculated. Positive associations were considered when the impact of factors related to a specific transmission pathway were statistically significant.
Results. Overall, data indicate that successful colonisation by H. pylori is most probably derived from direct person-to-person contact (100% positive association). Furthermore, exposure of humans to H. pylori derived from environmental sources is a very common event (64% for zoonotic transmission, 76% for water, and 75% for food, respectively).
Discussion. Even with the possible pitfalls of this type of analysis, which include the possible existence of confounding factors not accounted for in some of the studies, and the natural tendency to give relevance and present data that are significant rather than data that are not, the case for a multiroute way of transmission is compelling.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 30 July 2007

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 56494
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/56494
ISSN: 1083-4389
PURE UUID: c65a5add-94e1-4ba8-8fe8-4468c3010818
ORCID for C.W. Keevil: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1917-7706

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 08 Aug 2008
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:24

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: N. Guimaraes
Author: N.F. Azevedo
Author: C. Figueiredo
Author: C.W. Keevil ORCID iD
Author: M.J. Vieira

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×