Relationship between gastroenteritis caused by Helicobacter pylori and Giardia lamblia in malnourished children

Abstract

Malnutrition remains  one  of the  most  common  causes  of  morbidity  and mortality among children through the world. Approximately 9%of children below 5years of age suffer from wasting (weight for height below -2 standard deviations (<-2SD) of the national center for health statistics (NCHS)/WHO reference values) and are at risk of death or sever impairment of growth and physiological development .Giardia lamblia and Helicobacter pylori are two intestinal pathogens sharing the same mode of infection .They  are known to infect the gastrointestinal tract of humans early in life and to be very prevalent in endemic areas throughout life. A case control selective study were done on patients with malnutrition attending Salah Al-deen hospital in Tikrit city included 100 children with malnutrition (60 males and 40 females), their age range was 2-60 months the study also included 100 healthy children (as control group) to evaluate the co-infection of  H. pylori and G. lamblia infection among malnourished children. Each malnourished and control group were sent for general stool examination and for detection of Giardia lamblia trophozoite or cyst. Stool sample also tested for detection of Helicobacter pylori antigens.   The  study  revealed  that  the  frequency  of  G.  lamblia  and  H.  pylori  in malnourished children was 14% and 40% respectively and significantly higher than in control group  (5% and 20% respectively). The study  also found that 34% of malnutrition children were infected with H. pylori , 8% were infected with G. lamblia  and 6% were coinfected with the two microorganisms. The study showed that the highest rate of Giardia lamblia  and Helecobacter pylori infection  was occurred in malnourished children within the age group 25-36 months and most of them from  rural area. The present study showed that 64% of study cases were with mild malnutrition, 22% moderate and 14% were with severe malnutrition. The aim of this study is to evaluate the co-infection of  H. pylori and G. lamblia infection among malnutrition children in Tikrit City. And the conclusion of the study is that the frequency of giardiasis and H. pylori infection in  malnourished cases are  more than control.