Accelerated decline in Helicobacter pylori seroprevalence rate during the screen and treat project in Vammala, Finland, as demonstrated in 29‐ to 45‐year‐old pregnant women

Abstract

The potential preventability of serious helicobacter-associated diseases - especially gastric cancer - has evoked interest in eradicating this pathogen from the population. We assessed the efficacy of the pioneering screen and treat intervention project in Vammala by studying helicobacter seroprevalence in pregnant women representing the normal population. Consecutive maternity clinic samples from native Finnish females at five different localities in 1995 (n=701) and 2000 (n=772) were investigated for class IgG H. pylori antibodies by enzyme immunoassay (Pyloriset EIA-G III, Orion Diagnostica, Espoo, Finland). In Vammala the change in helicobacter seroprevalence was -13%-units (between 1995 and 2000; p=0.0125, chi-square test) in > or =29-year-old females, +1.6%-units (difference statistically non-significant) in <29-year-old females, and -5.5%-units (difference statistically non-significant) in the whole study population. In the four reference localities studied, all the corresponding changes remained statistically non-significant. Thus, in Vammala the programme applied accelerated the decline of helicobacter infections in 29- to 45-year-old females and in 2000 the seroprevalence rate had also become significantly lower than that of the four reference communities combined (7.6% versus 13.5%, respectively, p=0.0433, chi-square test). The final outcome of the intervention project, i.e. the long-term effect of this decline on gastric cancer and peptic ulcer disease, remains to be evaluated.

Decreasing Seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori Infection during 1993?2003 in Guangzhou, Southern China

“…Our previous study in 1993 showed that the density of living conditions was the prime determinant in the acquisition of H. pylori infection in Guangzhou city [8]. With the improvement of socioeconomic conditions and hygiene, H. pylori infection rates present decreasing trends in many regions all over the world, especially in some developing countries [12,19–22]. Such a decreasing trend also presented in our study carried out in Guangzhou city during a time span of 10 years.…”

Epidemiology of Helicobacter pylori Infection in the Czech Republic

“…In many developed countries, the overall prevalence of H. pylori infection has fallen dramatically over recent decades, such as in the Netherlands [8,9], Finland [10,11], the UK [12,13], Germany [14], or Greece [15], and the relatively low rate of infection in young people in developed countries is thought to be due largely to improved housing conditions during this century [16].…”

A “Screen‐and‐Treat” Approach for Helicobacter pylori Infection: A Population‐Based Study in Vammala, Finland

“…On the basis of this active intervention, the initial H. pylori seroprevalences were calculated to have markedly decreased in the pilot study and in the populationbased studies. This was further supported by a survey in maternity clinics in six Finnish communities, including Vammala, showing that only in Vammala a significant decline in the prevalence rate of H. pylori antibodies from 1995 to 2000 was seen [20]. We started the program before the first European guidelines for the management of H. pylori infection were published [21].…”