SERO-PREVALENCE OF HELICOBACTER PYLORI INFECTION AMONG HEALTH BLOOD DONORS IN ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA.

Abstract

Background: The discovery of Helicobacter pylori by Marshall and warren in 1982 revealed that, this organism has been implicated as the main etiological agent in the development of acute and chronic active gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, gastric cancer and mucose-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma in humans. According to recent epidemiological studies, more than half of the world's population is infected with Helicobacter pylori; a higher prevalence is reported in developing countries particularly in children and in early adult life. Thus, it is necessary to perform sero-prevalence study in order to have a clear understanding of the role played by H. pylori in the Ethio context, where peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer are a major cause of morbidity and mortality respectively.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in January 2001. Blood samples were collected from 150 adult healthy blood donors at blood bank unit Ethiopian Red Cross Society in Addis Ababa. The sera were obtained from blood by centrifugation and were examined for presence of IgG antibodies against Helicobacter pylori glycine extract antigen using the conventional enzyme immuo assay (EIA) method.

Results: A total of 150 healthy blood donors were investigated for H. pylori serology. Blood donors aged between 15 to 34 years predominated among the study groups and represented 72.0% of all. Among the blood donors, 123(82.0%) were males and 27(18.0%) were females. Among these, 133(89.0%) of the sere were positive of Helicobacter pylori, whereas the remaining 9(6.0%) and 8/5.0%) of the sera were negative and borderline respectively.

Conclusion: This study showed that, the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection among healthy blood donors of Addis Ababa was very high. Community based studies need to be conducted to confirm that this data reflects the actual situation of H.pylori infection in the general population. In addition to this, further epidemiological investigations should be performed in order to determine the sources, modes of transmission and the risk factors involved for Helicobacter pylori infection in the Ethiopian context.