Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Nov 14, 2019; 25(42): 6365-6372
Published online Nov 14, 2019. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i42.6365
Epidemiologic characteristics of Helicobacter pylori infection in southeast Hungary
Lenke Bálint, Andrea Tiszai, Gábor Kozák, Ilona Dóczi, Veronika Szekeres, Orsolya Inczefi, Georgina Ollé, Krisztina Helle, Richárd Róka, András Rosztóczy
Lenke Bálint, Andrea Tiszai, Orsolya Inczefi, Georgina Ollé, Krisztina Helle, Richárd Róka, András Rosztóczy, Division of Gastroenterology, First Department of Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged 6720, Hungary
Gábor Kozák, Department of Physiology, University of Szeged, Szeged 6720, Hungary
Ilona Dóczi, Department of Clinical Microbiology, University of Szeged, Szeged 6725, Hungary
Veronika Szekeres, Hungarian National Blood Transfusion Service, Szeged 6722, Hungary
Author contributions: Bálint L, Rosztóczy A designed research, performed research, and wrote the paper; Tiszai A performed research; Kozák G designed research and analyzed data; Dóczi I contributed analytic tools; Szekeres V performed research; Inczefi O performed research; Ollé G performed research; Helle K performed research; Róka R performed research.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by the institutional review board of University of Szeged.
Informed consent statement: The institutional review board of University of Szeged waived the requirement to obtain informed consents from patients.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: This study adopted the guidelines of the STROBE Statement.
Open-Access: This is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: András Rosztóczy, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Gastroenterology, First Department of Medicine, University of Szeged, Korányi fasor 8-10, Szeged 6720, Hungary. rosztoczy.andras@med.u-szeged.hu
Telephone: +36-62-545186 Fax: +36-62-545185
Received: September 2, 2019
Peer-review started: September 2, 2019
First decision: September 19, 2019
Revised: October 10, 2019
Accepted: October 18, 2019
Article in press: October 18, 2019
Published online: November 14, 2019
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Epidemiologic studies have revealed a decrease in the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection in Western Europe.

AIM

To obtain data regarding the prevalence of H. pylori in Csongrád and Békés Counties in Hungary, evaluate the differences in its prevalence between urban and rural areas, and establish factors associated with positive seroprevalence.

METHODS

One-thousand and one healthy blood donors [male/female: 501/500, mean age: 40 (19–65) years] were enrolled in this study. Subjects were tested for H. pylori IgG antibody positivity via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Subgroup analysis by age, gender, smoking habits, alcohol consumption, and urban vs non-urban residence was also performed.

RESULTS

The overall seropositivity of H. pylori was 32%. It was higher in males (34.93% vs 29.2%, P = 0.0521) and in rural areas (36.2% vs 27.94%, P = 0.0051). Agricultural/industrial workers were more likely to be positive for infection than office workers (38.35% vs 30.11%, P = 0.0095) and rural subjects in Békés County than those in Csongrád County (43.36% vs 33.33%, P = 0.0015).

CONCLUSION

Although the prevalence of H. pylori infection decreased in recent decades in Southeast Hungary, it remains high in middle-aged rural populations. Generally accepted risk factors for H. pylori positivity appeared to be valid for the studied population.

Keywords: Helicobacter pylori, Epidemiology, Prevalence, Central Europe, Healthy volunteers, Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, Differences in urban and rural population

Core tip: Whereas a decrease in the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) has been confirmed in Western Europe, its prevalence in Central Europe, which has a substantial rural population, is unclear. Therefore, this study analyzed the prevalence of H. pylori among healthy volunteers in two Hungarian counties. The results of the study illustrated that the seropositivity of H. pylori in this area was 32%. The prevalence was higher in males, among people living in rural areas. Agricultural/industrial workers were more likely to be positive for infection than office workers. Meanwhile, rural subjects in Békés County had higher prevalence than those in Csongrád County.