By Ijeoma UKAZU
A medical scientist, Prof. Stella Smith has expressed worry over the neglect of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), despite the pathogen being responsible for about 50 per cent of peptic ulcer infections worldwide.
Smith, Director of Research at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, NIMR, Yaba, Lagos, made this known during the Health Writers Association of Nigeria, HEWAN, Week held recently in Lagos, said Helicobacter pylori are a neglected pathogen that receives minimal attention and is often misdiagnosed.
According to her, the need for accurate diagnosis and treatment led to the formation of the African Helicobacter and Microbiota Study Group, AHMSG.
Prof. Smith, who is also the President of the study group, spoke in a paper titled, “Helicobacter pylori: The Peptic Ulcer Bug Neglected But Unrelenting”, and explained that H. pylori are bacteria that can cause an infection in the stomach or small intestine.
She states, “The pathogen is the most common cause of different gastric disorders including gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue, MALT, lymphoma, and gastric adenocarcinoma.
“H. pylori bacteria are usually transmitted from person to person through direct contact with saliva, vomit, or stool. It may also be spread through contaminated food or water.”
The scientist adds that the International Agency for Research on Cancer, IARC, a division of the World Health Organisation, WHO categorised H. pylori as a class one carcinogen.”
Smith said that the infected population with H. pylori are people of different races and regions around the world having varying levels of severity and pathological outcomes.
According to her, the infection burden in Africa is high with a reported prevalence of 70.1 per cent, however, could be higher due to a lack of data in some regions of the continent.
She said, “In Nigeria, the prevalence of H. pylori infection varies with northern Nigeria having more cases than other parts of the country.”
However, the scientist said that despite the prevalence and associated pathological outcomes attached to the infection, H. pylori infection was a neglected disease in Africa, adding that most other infectious diseases like HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, and more recently COVID-19 have more attention in terms of research funding and grants.
She stressed the importance of accurate and prompt diagnosis as key to managing, treating, and eradicating H. pylori disease, stating that, lack of awareness or misdiagnosis that every stomach ache seems to be an ulcer remains a major problem in Africa, most especially in Nigeria.
The researcher said that the treatment for H. Pylori was based on the recommended antisecretory combination of drugs and antibiotics.
“Unfortunately, due to misuse and overuse of antibiotics, several bacterial pathogens including H. pylori have developed resistance to antibiotics.
“This is posing a big challenge to the effective treatment and eradication of H. pylori infection.
“There is no treatment regimen which guarantees cure of H. pylori infection in 100 per cent of patients,” she adds.
Prof. Smith said that the selected treatments must consider local antibiotic resistance patterns (if known), previous exposure and allergies to specific antibiotics, cost, side effects, and ease of administration.
“With the widespread number of resistance studies showing to commonly prescribed antibiotics in Africa, it is time to produce a consensus guideline to guide clinicians on the choice of antibiotic combination for H. pylori eradication,” she said.
She urged people with the infection to go for proper medical evaluation and treatment and also embrace good hygiene.
She called for necessary precautions to prevent the infection and further appealed to those infected to seek prompt medical attention for better outcomes.