Immunoassay is promising non-invasive test for H pylori in children

H pylori infection is often acquired in childhood but is hard to diagnose non-invasively because serological tests are inaccurate and the ¹³C urea breath test expensive. Oderda et al (p 347) used an enzyme linked assay (so far used only in adults) on stool samples from 203 childen undergoing endoscopy for gastric infection: 52 children were H pylori positive on the gold standard test. The immunoassay had high sensitivity but specificity of only 93% on the cut off values used in adults. The authors calculated new cut offs from the receiver operating curve and showed sensitivity of 98% and specificity of 99%.

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Relevant Article

Detection of Helicobacter pylori in stool specimens by non-invasive antigen enzyme immunoassay in children: multicentre Italian study

Giuseppina Oderda, Anna Rapa, Barbara Ronchi, P Lerro, Maria Pastore, Annamaria Staiano, G L de'Angelis, and P Strisciuglio
BMJ 2000 320: 347-348. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]