Treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection

Abstract

The bacterium Helicobacter pylori can infect the stomach during childhood and cause lifelong chronic gastritis, which can lead to peptic ulcer disease. Curing H pylori infection cures ulcer disease. 1-5 And since reinfection in adults is extremely rare, 6 adequate treatment permanently cures this former chronic recurrent, serious disease. If ulcers do not recur neither do ulcer perforation or bleeding; quality of life increases, 7 sick leave decreases, and less money is spent on visiting the doctor and drugs. Antibiotic resistance needs to be taken into account when designing treatment for H pylori infection. 8 Over the past decade many different therapies were promoted and recommendations changed rapidly. Most doctors lost track, and a great variety of treatments is being used. 9 In this article we will try to provide a basic framework on which treatment can be based. Methods This article is based largely on our experience in treating H pylori infection. We base our recommendations on basic bacteriological principles and on a regularly updated in-house computer database that contains the results of all published therapeutic studies.